Gregor and The Prophecy Of Fliers Light
by Greenyugi
Summary: It has been many years since Gregor has been down in the Underland and Gregor is now 15. He fears they need of him no longer and they used him only for prophecies. Then two unexpected visitor's come to his apartment building to find him with new news of a new prophecy. Gregor does not know, but this prophecy could bring back his bond, Ares's life back and many others lives back.
1. Chapter 1

Gregor traced the scar along his wrist. The scar he had gotten from his bond, Ares' claw in his lodged in his wrist after they fell onto the ground from slaying a giant white rat called the Bane.  
Two years ago, Gregor had gone down to a place called the Underland. A world many miles beneath New York City where lived violet eyed people and giant bats, rats, cockroaches, and many other large creatures.

When Gregor went to the Underland last, he was to slay a large white rat called the Bane who was trying desperately to take over the whole Underland. When Gregor and his bond, Ares, went to seek the Bane, the big rat bit the bats neck as Gregor stabbed the Bane in the heart.  
The three crumpled to the earth, and in Gregor's last attempt on saving his bats life he locked hand in claw with him. Two large fireflies had to chew the claw from Gregor's grasp so they could safely take him back to the Underland's main city, Regalia.

Gregor now sat in front of his TV, watching the newsman blab on about the day's weather. Who cares what he says. Everyone knows it over seventy degrees outside! Even though it was no more than seventy degrees outside, it was a scorching ninety in Gregor's tiny apartment.  
Gregor was alone. had taken his six year old sister, Boots, to go get ice-cream and run a few errands. His mother and father were at work, his dad was finally strong enough to go back to work. His eleven year old sister, Lizzie, was at summer camp having the time of her life. Gregor's grandmother has died two months before, in her sleep.

As Gregor traced his scar he couldn't help but think of the most wonderful gift he had received after the death of his bat. After he and Boots returned to the Overland she had given him a small plastic bat, also the day she had said his name right.  
The small black bat was now on a chain necklace, hanging around Gregor's neck. He choked back tears has he ran his fingers over the slightly detailed bat.

"I really need to get my head out of the clouds," though Gregor. "They don't need me anymore. No more Underland, no more Regailia, no more Luxa...no more Ares."

Gregor shook the thoughts out of his head and struggled as he got up off of the couch. His body still ached, he always told himself it was from the treacherous fall, but really it was from the death of Ares. Not only did it mess up his mind, thoughts, and heart, it also messed up his body. Whatever his heart felt, his whole body felt.

Gregor stretched then shuffled off to the kitchen, his stomach growling all the way. He searched the fridge for any signs of food; all that the fridge held was a half jug of ketchup and half of a two week old apple pie.  
The cupboards were just as bare, only holding a teaspoon of oatmeal and vegetable oil. The ends of the months were always the worst, that was when they never had any food in the house.

Gregor was just about to serve himself a piece of pie when Boots and walked in with arm full of groceries. Enough groceries to easily feed a small army and still have food left afterwards.

handed Gregor two grocery bags filled to the brim. "Wow, aren't you getting tall! Oh my, and muscular!" said as she sized Gregor up with herself.

"You said that this morning, ," Gregor laughed as he put the groceries away, his voice was distinctively deeper.

"I know," said matter of factly. "I just cannot believe you are fifteen, Boots is six and Lizzie is now eleven...Any news?"

'News' was the code word for letters from the Underland. Gregor's mother had strictly told them no answering letters from the Underland and no going back down. So Gregor and the rest of his family had to keep the letters a secret if they did find any.

"No, I haven't gotten any news in months. They obviously don't need me anymore since there are no more prophecies," Gregor replied as he checked out Boots' new shoes.

"Oh darling, I am sure they are just busy. Maybe they think your mother will be angry if they send for you again. Don't worry, they will call for you when they are in deep need," she reassured as she rubbed Gregor's shoulder.

"Yeah right," Gregor muttered under his breath while Boots used his foot as a stage for her new doll. She had just gotten interested in barbie dolls and she had gotten a new one that day and had named it Luxa, of course.

"Well kiddo, I gotta hit the road. Your dad should be home soon, your mom called me and told me to tell you she took the late shift, she should be home around eight," said as she opened the door and waved good-bye.

Gregor stood up and stretched, ruining Boots' barbie doll stage, "Sorry Boots but I gotta make lunch."

"That's okay, your feet stink anyway. How about noodles!" Boots called.

Gregor shook his head, "We had noodles yesterday. I'm going to make honey and peanut butter sandwiches if you want one."

"Nah, I don't really want one," Boots complained.

Gregor grabbed the honey and peanut butter out of the now full cupboard and took the bread out. He laid out two slices of bread and spread the peanut butter on it with a butter knife. He couldn't help but feel a little of the rager sensation as he playfully sliced the air with the knife.  
A rager is what the Underlanders called a person who could kill with great accuracy. Gregor, the first time he had gone down to the Underland has hit the total of fifteen blood balls which was very impressive down there.

Gregor took a bite out of his sandwich as he walked towards the couch. He slumped down into the couch with a sigh. Boots walked in front of Gregor, her mouth open wide, notifying she wanted a bite. He figured earlier she would want one so he made her one but left it on the counter.

"I made you one, it's on the counter," Gregor garbled through a mouthful of food.

Boots ran off to the kitchen. A few minutes later Gregor heard a loud crash of glass on linoleum. Gregor leapt off of the couch and into the kitchen to find Boots sitting on the ground and a shattered cup around her.

Gregor rushed to her side, "Are you alright?"

"I'm sorry Gregor! I only wanted to be a big girl and get my own juice! I'm sorry! I don't wanna be in trouble!" Boots wailed as she hung her arms around Gregor's neck and he picked her up.

"Oh don't cry baby, you're not in trouble," Gregor reassured as he rubbed her back.

"So, I'm not in trouble? Not even a little?" Boots asked as she sniffled back a tear.

"No, you're not in trouble. Not even a little. Why don't you go watch sponge bob while I clean up the glass?" Gregor told her as he carefully set her down on the carpet that lined the outside of the kitchen.

Boots ran off to the living room and Gregor swept up the glass. When he finished he put the broom and dust pan back and wiped his hands on his pants. He glanced at the clock slowly ticking away on the wall, it was only five-thirty, and his dad would be home soon.

The door burst open and Gregor's mom and dad came in with a steaming hot pizza. His mom must have gotten off early or she would have come at eight.

"How was your day bud?" his dad asked as he ruffled his hair.

"Good, I haven't gotten the laundry done so I should do that tomorrow," Gregor replied.

Gregor's mother nervously glanced at Gregor. She was still worried that he would one day disappear and never come back, even though he had told her millions of times that he would never leave again without her.

Gregor walked over to his mom and hugged her," I won't ever leave you again."

He cut the embrace off and decided to lie down. It was hot and he was not hungry. Before he went to bed he took a cool shower, letting the cold water run over his body and soak his scars and wash his worries away.

When Gregor was done he toweled off and went to bed. He clicked off the light before he lay down. He fell asleep as he stared up at his ceiling.

'Gregor and Ares flew over the waterway with Luxa and Aurora. They had gone on a picnic and they were now flying back to Regalia.

"It is nice. Do you not-" Luxa started, but was cut off by the screech of her bat, Aurora.

A serpent had flung itself out of the water and had grabbed Aurora's leg. It pulled Aurora down, tearing the skin and revealing soft tissue and bone.

Aurora tried to beat her wings but the serpent dragged her down further. Luxa would have tried to fight for her bond but she had brought no weapon.

Luxa screamed as the serpent dragged Aurora down. Ares dove and drove his claws into the serpents face making it bellow and let go of Aurora.

Aurora regained her balance and flew up next to Ares. The serpent flung itself and latched onto Aurora's wing and dragged her down.  
Ares clutched Aurora's shoulders in his claws and tried to pull her up while Gregor yanked Luxa onto Ares' back so she wouldn't get eaten.

Ares' claws slipped a little from Aurora's shoulders. Luxa was now trying to leap off of Ares' back but Gregor restrained her from doing so.  
"Do not drop her! Do not!" Luxa yelled as she tried to wiggle out of Gregor's grasp.

Gregor whispered into Ares' ear, "You must drop her Ares! If not we will all die!"

"You do not understand! If I drop her Luxa will hate us both! I have already killed her cousin! I cannot do the same to her bond!" Ares hissed back.

Just as Ares tried to regain his hold the serpent gave one last tug, and Ares lost his grip. Aurora was dragged down into the water, screeching the whole way.

"Noo!" Luxa roared and she launched herself off of Ares' back.

"Luxa!" Gregor yelled.

Ares dove down; the serpent came up, his face inches from Luxa's.'

Gregor flew up from his bed, panting. The sun shone in from the curtains, it was already noon. It was only a dream, that whole gruesome thing, was only a dream. Could dreams come true? Ares was dead...wasn't he?

Gregor slid off of his bed and stretched, his back popped. His parents were out at work. Boots was in the living room playing with her dolls. Gregor brushed his hair and put on day clothes. Grabbing a basket of dirty clothes, he put his booths on.

"C'mon Boots. We need to do some laundry," Gregor called. Boots already had her shoes on and she ran up to Gregor's side.

Gregor opened the front door and started down the hallway, throwing a ball for Boots to fetch. The elevator was broken so they had to take the stairs. At least they were cooler.

Gregor trudged down the stairs and into the hall. Boots now held his hand as they walked towards the doorway. Gregor flicked on the light switch and the lights flickered on.

"Ugh! Damn boy! What are you trying to do! Blind us all!" a gruff voice called from a scarred and furry face.


	2. Chapter 2

Gregor gasped. Standing in front of a washer was Luxa, and Ripred. Ripred was shielding his eyes with his tail from the light while gnawing on a piece of wood. How did they get down here? Why was Luxa up here? How did they get to his apartment without being spotted?  
"H-How did you guys get up here?" Gregor stammered as he held Boots' hand.

"Long story...we got shipped in a box that was stamped to China, who the hell knows why. Then we took a plane back to New York City and hopped on a girl scout wagon back to your..." Ripred started.

"We came from the Waterway entry. The smaller gnawers told us where you lived and where you clean. Do not listen to Ripred, we all know he is full of nonsense," Luxa cut Ripred off while she glared at the rat.

Gregor looked Luxa up and down. It had been many years since he had last seen her. The last time he was down there she was merely a child. Her silvery blonde hair hung over her shoulder's, resting on her head was the gold band she normally wore. She had grown a good six inches and had really grown in the brea-

"Okay, no time for looks and blushes. We found another prophecy and you're in it. We didn't come here to check each other out," Ripred cut Gregor's thoughts off.

Gregor shook off his thoughts. "Another prophecy? I thought you found them all?" Gregor choked, still dazzled by Luxa's beauty.

"We sighted this one out in a corner of the prophecy room. It was hard to read. Hard to decipher it may be," Luxa added as she handed Gregor a scroll.

Gregor looked the worn scroll over. The words were hard to read, whoever wrote it didn't have a steady hand.

'The Prophecy of Flier's Light'  
'If the Warrior himself was killed,  
If the black bat's blood was spilled.  
Reunite them back together,  
Every minute, tear, be tethered.

Reunite my sword as one,  
And death, shall be undone.

I warn you all, right now.  
My friends, we killers,  
May just meet, our ends.

The Underland will be in strife.  
If big black bat,  
Does not redeem his life.

Fliers, Gnawers, Nibblers,  
All shall be saved from other,  
Prophecies.

Or none shall be saved at all.  
Either path black bat chooses,  
Four must sacrifice,  
Their own light.  
For the Warriors, Bond.

The forgotten Spirit Lands,  
Is where he lies.  
Covered in long forgotten snow.

Bring my sword,  
Bring his claw,  
Bring your hope,  
Bring none at all.

Sacrifice your own light,  
For the ones light you seek.'

Normal prophecies were hard to decipher, but this one was as clear as water. No words were slurred or hard and written in Underland style. Gregor knew what it meant, he could bring back Ares' life, and many others who had died in other prophecies.

"It may seem easy to understand. Yet many may come with Ares, but some will have to die. That may be Ares, who redeems his light, but could lose it. Who comes back is up to destiny, that could be the Bane, or my parents," Luxa articulated. "Yet it says to bring his claw and Sandwiches sword. You must stab yourself in the heart to for Ares to redeem his life.

Gregor was shocked. He wanted to go, to save others' lives and to save Ares' life, but he couldn't.  
"I can't go. I can't kill another creature, and I can't put my parents through so much pain."

"You must! The Underland is at stake! All who love you, and you love, their lives are at stake!" Luxa argued.

"She is right boy. If you do not redeem Ares' life, all Underland creatures will die," Ripred chipped in.

Gregor couldn't believe them. Were they really trying to drag him back down there again? Gregor grunted, "Fine, I will go. I have to leave my parents a note."

"We came from the Waterway passage. Ripred came by boat, which was pulled by Aurora. She is awaiting our arrival at this moment," Luxa dictated.

Gregor nodded as he searched for a pencil and a piece of paper. He pulled an old pen and a napkin from the garbage; he wrote his parent's a note which he clipped onto the fridge before they left. The note said this:

'Dear Mom and Dad,  
I have gone back down to the Underland with Boots. They need me. I will write you guys every day. If you need something please tell me and I will send you a bat. Please don't come for me, I will be hunting down another prophecy.

Love, Gregor.'

Gregor closed the front door of his apartment and followed Luxa and Ripred down to the stairs. Boots was still holding tightly to his hand, she had been awfully quiet, she must not remember these guys.

It was dark when they began to pry the grate open. No one was on the streets; all of the lights were on. Ripred pried the grate open and he, Luxa, and Gregor and Boots climbed down and slid the grate back in place. They started down the stairs which lead to where Aurora was waiting.

"You pups are quite quiet today. Rat got your tongue or did I ruin the party?" Ripred laughed as he scraped his teeth on the wood.

"Do you remember them?" Gregor asked Boots.

"Kinda. They look strange," Boots murmured.

"Well we are...old friends. It's not every day you see giant rats and purple eyed people," Ripred muttered.

"The palace of New Yock is extremely beautiful. There are many large palaces. Which is the main?" Luxa questioned.

New 'Yock'. She must not be able to pronounce the 'R' or maybe the Overlands names were hard to her just like the Underlands names were hard for Gregor.

"We don't have a specific palace. The Empire State Building I guess is kind of our main one," Gregor replied.

They walked in silence for the next five minutes until they met up with Aurora who was perched on a rock slab that overlooked the Waterway. A boat was tied to her abdomen, the boat bobbed in the water.

Aurora bowed to Gregor. "Greetings Gregor. It has been many days since I have last had sight of you," she purred.

Gregor nodded. "It's good to see you. How have you been?"

"Mourning, yet well. You have grown much. How old yet you be?" Aurora questioned as she let Gregor pat her golden fur.

"I am fifteen now," Gregor replied sheepishly.

Aurora nodded, and then he, Luxa, and Boots mounted her. Ripred carefully stepped into his boat and made himself comfortable, still gnawing on the wood. When he was seated, Aurora flew out over the sea, gently pulling the boat behind her.

Gregor began to remember his dream as they passed a large torch that was lit. It stood high over the water. It must only be lit when they knew people were going to be flying over the Waterway. Of course Gregor couldn't tell Luxa about his dream; she probably would never fly with him and Ares again.

"When do we go home?" Boots asked.

"I'm not sure. We will write mom every day though, so don't worry," Gregor replied.

After flying over the water for a couple of hours the light of Regalia began to shine out over the water. Gregor knew how to use his eyes even without light. He had learned how to use echolocation to see without light. If he clicked or made any noise it would come back to him with a picture of what was in front of him.

It was like Ripred could read Gregor's mind. "How has your echolocation going?" he yelled up to Gregor.

"Good! I can use it when the power goes out in the house!" Gregor yelled back.

Aurora fluttered down onto the docks and waited while Ripred made it safely onto the Dock. Luxa hopped off of Aurora's back and helped Ripred at tying the boat to the dock, noticing he was struggling without the use of thumbs.

"Thank you, young bond," Ripred chuckled quietly.

Luxa nodded as she remounted Aurora and they flew off towards the palace. Aurora fluttered into the high hall as Ripred was being pulled up on the wood elevator. Vikus met them at Aurora's side. Gregor slid off of her back, caught Boots, and hugged Vikus. Vikus was taken aback; he had planned to shake Gregor's hand, not to hug him. Gregor pulled away and smiled at him as Boots looked around curiously.

"How be you, Gregor?" Vikus asked.

"Good. It feels allot better down here, it was really hot in the Overland," Gregor replied.

"You must bathe, and then head to the feast room," Vikus nodded and he turned on his heel.

A large cockroach scurried up to Boots and bowed at her feet, "Princess, remember Temp, remember does she?"

A confused expression painted Boots' face. Then, like a light clicked inside of her, she hugged him. They stood eye to eye. Temp's antennae ran over Boots' face, making her giggle.

"Hey Temp. How are you?" Gregor asked.

"Well I am, I am well, yes," Temp replied as he half bowed to Gregor, who bowed back.

Gregor took Boots' hand and led her to the bathing rooms. Temp followed behind quietly. A tall Underland woman met him outside of the bathing rooms.

Gregor was confused, then he remembered the old nanny, Dulcet, she must be at least in her twenties now. "Hi, Dulcet."

"May I assist Boots while she bathes?" Dulcet asked as she knelt down to where she looked Boots in the eye.

Gregor approved and Dulcet lead her into her own bathing room. "Don't burn these please," Gregor said to the guards, pointing to his clothes.

The guards nodded and Gregor walked into the locker room. He checked out his surroundings then went into the bathing room. Gregor removed his clothes, peed in the toilet, then stepped into the warm, flowing, water. He sat down on the bench to where the water barely licked his earlobes.

The water soothed his scars. Something about the Underland water was much different than the water he bathed in at home. Gregor scrubbed himself with the awkward soap then toweled off.

He put the clean Underland clothes on that sat neatly folded on a chair. He slipped on the braided sandals. His old clothes must have been put in the museum for they were nowhere in sight. Gregor walked out into the hall and was wrapped in a bear hug. Gregor looked up to see Mareth smiling down at him. Mareth grinned, his bond, Andromeda, stood behind him.

"Hey Mareth, how are you?" Gregor asked.

"I am well. Still trying to figure out this," Mareth replied as he gestured to his prosthetic leg which was made of some kind of bone and dried hide.

"Yeah. That must be a pain. Anyway, when do we eat? I am starving," Gregor replied.

"We may head to the feast now," Mareth replied. He and his bat lead Gregor to the room where they held huge feasts.

"Dulcet must have taken Boots, knowing I would talk to Mareth," Gregor thought to himself.

Mareth hobbled into the big room, followed by Andromeda and Gregor. Everyone who was standing around the table sat down when Gregor sat. Many people who sat around the table, Gregor did not recognize. Some who he did were Vikus, Euripedes, Howard, Nike, Luxa, Aurora, Hazard, and Ripred.

Some Underland cooks brought in platters of food. The platters consisted of salads, broiled eggs, fried fish, and Ripred's favorite, shrimp in cream sauce. For desert was a fruit cake with weird lemon frosting.

Gregor dished himself and Boots food while Dulcet patiently stood behind them. He guess she was not high enough to sit at this glorious feast with them. Ripred took a large bowl of shrimp in cream sauce and dunked his face in it.

When Ripred came back up from the bowl, Gregor questioned, "When do we leave? How long will it take?"

"We will start after you retrain. The trip could take at least three weeks."


	3. Chapter 3

Before he stepped in, Luxa stopped him. "What means this, 'Hit the hay'?" she asked.

"Well. It means to go to sleep I guess. Because your really tired," Gregor appeased.

Luxa nodded. Boots joined in on the word game and Gregor walked into the room Three weeks. Gregor couldn't stay for three weeks. He had only planned to say for a week tops. He couldn't leave his parents for that long, especially since he had Boots with him. Maybe they could make the trip faster somehow. Maybe he could talk them into making the trip shorter by telling them he had an appointment or something.

"Is there any way we could make the trip any faster? Maybe pack light baskets? Take a short cut?" Gregor asked, a knot in his stomach.

"Not likely. We must start by heading towards the Dead Lands. Turn East and cross a few seas and series of land. Who knows how long it will take to kill you and find Ares," Ripred started. "Also time to visit and to retrieve all that are lost. Not all come from the Spirit Lands, some will have to be found in other lands."

After everyone had finished eating Gregor and Boots bathed again. The bath gave Gregor time to think. How could he do this? His mom would not allow him to stay that long! She would kill him before he was allowed to go to the Spirit Lands. After Gregor's bath he and Boots headed to Luxa's room to sleep.

Boots and Gregor made their way down the long, slightly lit halls. Gregor knew most of the halls in the palace by now, he had been there many times. Gregor knocked on the outside of Luxa's door and waited for an answer.

"You may step in," Luxa called.

Gregor stepped in, followed by Boots and Temp. He didn't even know Temp had followed them, he was so quiet. Luxa was sitting on the ground around a small coffee table, playing a word game with Hazard. Gregor would have joined, but he was way too tired.

"You must be tired," Luxa laughed as she looked up from her game. Gregor and Boots must have looked tired.

"Yeah. I think I am gonna hit the hay. Boots, you can stay and play if you'd like. I have had a long day," Gregor replied as he started to walk towards a guest room.  
. He face planted onto the fluffy bed and nodded of when his head hit the pillow. All that the day had held was overwhelming. A few hours later Boots cuddled up next to him and also fell asleep.

Luxa nodded. Boots joined in on the word game and Gregor walked into the room. He face planted onto the fluffy bed and nodded of when his head hit the pillow. All that the day had held was overwhelming. A few hours later Boots cuddled up next to him and also fell asleep.

Next thing Gregor knew, he was being shaken awake. His eyes popped open to find Boots shaking him awake, "Wake up Gregor! Breakfast is ready!" she yelled as she shook him harder.

"I'm up alright!" Gregor said groggily as he rubbed his eyes and stretched.

Gregor walked out of the room and sat next to Luxa. She, Temp, and Hazard were eating breakfast. Boots took a seat in between Hazard and Temp and began to eat her already filled plate. Gregor took a warm roll from a platter and spread jelly like substance on it. When everyone ate Boots and Gregor bathed again. Gregor walked out of the bathroom door to find Mareth.

"Your sword is being mended. While it is being mended you must train. I will meet you at the stadium. A flier by the name of Zinx is awaiting your arrival at the high hall," Mareth instructed and walked away towards the high hall.

Dulcet came out with a squeaky clean Boots latched onto her hand. Gregor thanked her and took Boots' hand and lead her to the high hall. Temp trailed along behind them, he was awfully attached to Boots this trip. Gregor saw a creamy red bat sitting alone in the high hall, he guessed the bat was Zinx.

"You must be Zinx," Gregor spoke as he walked up to the bat.

The bat nodded their head. "I am she who is called Zinx. I was assigned to take you to the field to train. Is this correct?" Zinx asked.

She, Gregor didn't know the bat was a female. She was awfully large for a female. She was almost the size of what Ares had been. Not as bulky, and not as long as a wing span. She was a good foot or two smaller than Ares but she was very bulky and looked powerful. Her muscles rippled under her fur as her wing twitched.

"Yep, I am supposed to go train," Gregor replied and Zinx knelt down to let them mount her.

Gregor sat in front of her bulky shoulders with Boots sitting behind him. She was talking to Temp in cockroach. He couldn't believe she remembered any of the words. Zinx took off for the field. Boots didn't seem to have any ounce of nervousness. Gregor did, it had been a while since he had ridden a bat. He didn't trust much bats other than Ares.

"So, who is your bond?" Gregor asked.

"I do not have of one yet. I could find of none earlier in life. No human suited me, nor did I suit any," she replied, a pinch of sadness in her tone.

"Well, I am sure there is someone out there just right for you. My sister Lizzie, she is eleven. I bet she would like you. She is quiet and nice. Maybe next time she comes back down you guys could get to know each other," Gregor added.

Zinx fluttered onto the mossy field. Mareth was already down there with Luxa and Hazard. How did he get down here so fast? Gregor slid off of Zinx and helped Boots down. Boots scurried over to Hazard, Temp following behind her. They would probably talk with Temp in cockroach and talk to any other creature that would listen to them. Hazard had a special talent where he could speak the tongue of many creatures. He was a Halflander, and Overlander and an Underlander. He had taught himself when he lived in the jungle to speak to other creatures.

"So what am I going to be trained on today?" Gregor asked Mareth as he walked over to him.

"You will train in flying, agility, and rager. You must retake your skills. You will also be tested on raging in the dark," Mareth replied as he and Gregor moved over to the blood ball cannons where Gregor Mareth gave Gregor his sword which had been finished early.

Gregor took the jewel studded handle of the sword and stood where Mareth told him to stand. Gregor placed his feet shoulder width apart and shook off all other thoughts. He rolled his neck and swung his sword out in front of him, getting used to the feel of it before the cannons were set off.

Mareth started the cannons. The blood balls came at Gregor with intense speed but his mind slowed everything down and zeroed in on the balls. His sword sliced through the first ball, the liquid splattered across the blade of his sword and his face. Gregor swung his sword a few more times then stopped. At his feet lay the shells of all fifteen blood balls, their liquid oozing out around his boots.

"Impressive," Luxa said as she walked up to Gregor and patted him on the shoulder. "Not like I have not seen it before."

"Impressive it is. Not many can make this incredible feat," Mareth added as he also patted Gregor's shoulder. "Time to fly."

Mareth stood up three dummies on the field. They had many cuts and scrapes from earlier battles with their rivals. One's head was already missing, and one's stomach was so torn up the stuffing was spilling out onto the moss.

"Show your seat on the flier," Mareth instructed, pointing at Zinx who had ventured over near them.

Gregor climbed up onto Zinx's shoulders and positioned himself comfortably where his legs dangled out in front of him, out of the of Zinx's flying. Mareth patted his legs and told him to losen up his grip, the flier knows how to fly and will not drop him. Gregor did as he was told and he noticed Zinx began to relax a little.

"Now you will hit the target. Zinx has knowledge on how to maneuver, all you need to do is strike, making sure you do not hit her wings or any other object," Mareth instructed and Zinx rose into the air.

Zinx lifted up high above Mareth to where he looked like an ant on a large surface. She dove towards the targets and Gregor zoned in on the spots that were vulnerable on the dummies. Zinx did a twist to where Gregor was upside down and he ran his sword into the first dummies chest and pulled out, making more stuffing fall. The second Zinx circled around and Gregor sliced diagonolly through the abdomen. The third Zinx sped down towards, right when she was about to hit the floor she turned up and Gregor cut the head off of the dummy.

Mareth called the two back down. Zinx fluttered down beside Mareth and Gregor slid off next to him. Luxa had been watching them the whole time, hopefully Gregor did his attacks right, he didn't want to look like a complete idiot.

"That was fair, yet losen your legs when attacking," Luxa chirped.

"Now Ripred will see you for echolocation," Mareth instructed as he handed Gregor a wooden sword. "Good luck."

Gregor walked over to Ripred and followed him into one of the dark tunnels that led out of the stadium. They stopped in a large cave where Gregor had to focus to see.

"Good to see you boy. Yet, can you see me?" Ripred laughed as he teased Gregor.

At first Gregor could not see a thing, then he clicked and a picture of Ripred crouching before him came back to him. Ripred silently stalked towards Gregor. Gregor swung his sword down on Ripred who had caught it off guard, it sent him stumbling but he soon caught his balance.

"Oh, so you want to play it the hard way boy?" Ripred evily chuckled, "oh, I can play it the hard way."

Gregor's stomach did a flip, but his mind was steady. Gregor locked on Ripred and every move he made. Ripred's tail came crashing down near Gregor's face. He quickly blocked it with the sword. The impact made the sword make a cracking sound. Gregor swung around. Ripred's claw just missed his face. Gregor's sword hit Ripred right on the side and sent him sprawling to the ground. He got up and shook it off.

"Oh my gosh! I'm sorry!" Gregor exclaimed as he ran to Ripred's side.

"I am fine boy. Just got the wind knocked out of me," Ripred pushed Gregor's sympathy off.

Ripred headed for the mouth of the tunnel. Gregor traveled behind, feeling very sheepish. They both had to shield their eyes when they entered the bright stadium. Gregor's eyes adjusted quickly and he walked over to Zinx. Boots and Temp were already mounted and ready to head back to the palace. Gregor climbed onto Zinx's shoulders and looked back at Ripred who was limping slightly.

"Are you sure you are okay? You don't need help getting back to the palace or anything?" Gregor asked.

"I am quite alright boy. I will even race you to prove how well I am," Ripred laughed.

Gregor chuckled and Zinx rose into the air. She sped off towards the palace. Ripred stayed right under her wings. Ripred had to stop at the elevator as Zinx flew into the high hall. Gregor and the others slid off of the bats back. Ripred walked over to them as Vikus did also.

"You two will bathe. Ripred, we need to discuss traveling plans," Vikus instructed as he and Ripred headed off.

Gregor thanked Zinx for the ride and he lead Boots and Temp to the bathing room. His body ached as he stepped into the warm water. It instantly washed away the pains and left him feeling refreshed as he stepped out of the water. When he toweled off he put on the fresh clothes and asked the guards to take his boots back to Luxa's room. He walked out to find Boots and Temp waiting for him.

"What is for dinner?" Boots asked.

"I am not sure. We will find out soon though," Gregor told her as they walked into the feast room.

The room was full of people. They took their seats. Gregor ate gluttonously and so did Boots. He had worked hard when he had trained, he was also older and could take in allot of food.

"So when do we leave?" Gregor asked Ripred after he had swallowed a mouthful of carrot things.


	4. Chapter 4

After the feast, Gregor, Boots, and Temp lazily trudged back to Luxa's room. They had eaten enough to feed a whole army. Gregor wondered if he was hitting a growth spurt, he and Boots. He was sure Cockroaches could eat allot without getting sick. Could they? Were they like wolves? After they eat one whole meal they go out looking for more food? He didn't know.

Gregor crashed the moment his head hit the pillow. Was it true the body becomes tired when it it full of food so it digests better? Boots wiggled up next to him and instantly fell asleep. Temp twitched now and then in his sleep. Even Luxa had seemed tired before they all went to bed. Hazard was the only one who really seemed up to and Boots slept all throughout the night. Gregor had dreams of flying with Ares, and running his fingers through his silky black fur.

Gregor was shaken awake. He swung up and almost hit his head on Ripred's snout. The rat jumped back and snarled.

"Watch it boy! Not only is your sword hand deadly, but your melon is too!" Ripred snarled.

Gregor rubbed the sleep from his eyes. Temp and Boots had already been wakened and were now eating. He stood up from his bed and stretched. On a tray was a pile of food which included greens, bread, and some type of oatmeal. Gregor took a piece of bread and a bowl of oatmeal and sat next to Boots and began to eat.

"So, how are we planning this whole thing out?" Gregor asked. "Who is all going? And...if you are going, how are you going to fly?"

Ripred popped a piece of bread in his mouth. "Oh, they have made this horrid sling type seat that I must sit in. It is tied to two large fliers," Ripred grunted. "The sling is more like a leather seat I sit in and it buckles around me. Anyone may come, not Vikus, his stroke has made him unable to come. Mareth is coming even with his issue."

"I must go," Luxa piped up.

"Well you better listen to your elders Missy. For you are queen now, and you must be a good little queen," Ripred said, sarcasm dripping from every word.

Luxa scowled at him. They were not the best of bonds. They had many differences between them. But when it came to saving each others lives, they were good at that.

"How many bats are we taking?" Gregor questioned.

"What is this twenty questions?" Ripred drawled. "Anyway, part from my chauffeurs, we are taking at least six extra fliers. Two will carry the water, two the food, and at least two who carry blankets and medicine kits."

Gregor finished his oatmeal and cleared his throat, "When do we leave?"

Ripred rolled his eyes dramatically. "After our fun game of twenty questions i suppose," he said boredly.

"Do I go?" Boots asked after a long moment of silence.

"Well...um-" Gregor started, looking at Ripred for conformation.

"You can. If I were you I would stay and enjoy myself loathing," Ripred replied as he chewed on a bone from the night before," I like you a whole lot better now. You are less...annoying."

Boots stuck her tongue out at him and crossed her arms over her chest. This was her 'I don't like you' face.

"You can go Boots, just you have to behave. It is going to be a long trip without many stops. You can go, or stay and keep Hazard company," Gregor replied as he glared at Ripred.

Boots thought this over for a few minutes, "I wanna go," she finally replied.

Gregor nodded as he stepped into his Boots and tied them tight. He might need the boots where he was headed. And not that he did not want her to go, he just did not want her to get hurt or get too bored.

"Well I guess that FINALLY settles it. Let us go," Ripred instructed and everyone followed him out the door.

They walked into the high hall. Many underlander's were loading up bats with baskets and water sacks. Aurora, Nike, Andromeda, were ready to be mounted. A cream colored bat sat with the three others, probably another extra to be ridden. Vikus appeared and he called Gregor over to a pair of bats.

"Zues and Zorro. They are brothers. They will carry Ripred from a long sling," Vikus told as he pointed to  
two large bats. Zues was gray with a dark face and Zorro was a light mist color. The two had harnesses of their own with two long leather ropes connected from the bottom of them. At the end of the ropes was a sling.

Vikus walked over to another pair of bats. Zinx and Tine. They carried the two large food baskets. Zinx was the red bat Gregor had ridden earlier on and Tine was a light teal colored bat. The baskets were being filled with many different kinds of food, like meats, cheeses, cakes, and breads and allot of other stuff.

There was also Azmash. He carried the blankets and pillows so the questers did not get cold. He was a light red colored bat who looked very fragile.

There was also Blaze and Poyo who carried the water sacks. They were two of the largest bats Gregor had ever seen, still not as large as Ares though. Blaze was tan with a white marking on his face and Poyo was a dark chocolate brown.

Vikus led Gregor over to the light cream colored bat that sat near Nike. The bats name was Mace, Gregor was to ride upon him with Temp and Boots. He was young and fast but sturdy. Vikus walked off and Gregor was left alone with the bat. By the time the tour of meeting everyone was over people were closing baskets and getting ready to mount up. Zues and Zorro were lifting up into the air so Ripred could be strapped into his seat. Mareth brought Boots over to Gregor with Temp following behind.

"Mount Mace. It is almost time to depart, Mareth instructed and he flung himself onto Andromeda's back. Gregor helped Boots onto Mace's back and then mounted. The rest of the group showed up and mounted their bats. After everyone said their 'Fly You High's' the group took off out of the high hall.

The group was flying over a large mass of water. Gregor had never seen it before so they must have taken a different route towards the dead lands. The water had little light bubbles popping at its surface. Mareth and Andromeda who were in the lead dipped down into a cave sort of thing in a tall rock that rose high above the water.

The group landed in the spacious cave and everyone dismounted. Zues and Zorro still hovered over the group, Ripred was trying to unstrap himself from the sling. Luxa walked over and undid his buckle like it was nothing. The two bats landed and Ripred hopped out of the sling.

Mareth opened the basket on Azmash's back and pulled out a brush and tossed it to Luxa. Luxa unstrapped the bats from their harnesses and they shook. Luxa began to brush down the fur where the harnesses had bit into their skin at. She did this too all of the bats who had worn harnesses. She put the food and water in a safe place away from the edge of the cave.

"Why do you do this now? And not in any of the other journey's?" Gregor asked.

"We have much time to spare. In the other prophecies we did not," Luxa replied as she brushed down Zinx's red coat.

"Anyone hungry?" Gregor asked as he walked over to the food baskets. He looked around in the basket for meat, bread, and cheese to make a sandwich. No one answered but he made them anyway. He made the humans each one and two for Ripred. Some bats had gone fishing so they could feed themselves and Temp.

"Must you need help?" Luxa asked as she walked over as Gregor sliced through the meat. She must have already finished the rest of the bats.

"Sure, you can slice the cheese," Gregor replied loudly, Boots was teaching Temp how to sing Happy Birthday.

Luxa took a knife from the basket and began to slice the cheese into thin slices. The two bats that had gone out fishing came back with claw fulls of fish. They dumped them in a pile on the floor. Both bats had caught at least six fish each.

Half of the group of bats took a fish each. The rest Temp and Ripred ate. Another group of bats went out to fish for themselves.

"Have you missed the Underland?" Luxa asked.

"Of course. I missed all you guys. You can pair the meat up with the cheese now," Gregor replied as he began to slice the bread.

"Dont you know any other songs! Other than boring, boring, and annoying?" Ripred snarled as he glared at Boots.

"I know the Three Blind Mice song," Boots offered.

"Shoot.." Ripred drawled as he slouched against the wall.

Gregor and Luxa finished the sandwiches and passed them out. Ripred ate his two like he hadn't eaten in years. Boots took hers and began to munch loudly on it.

"Well, at least there is not singing," Ripred said as he gulped down the last bit of his sandwich.

The bats that had gone out to fish came back and dropped their fish in a pile. The bats and Temp and Ripred ate their fill on fish. When everyone had eaten they laid down blankets and pillows and Boots told some stories. She told the story about the Three Little Pigs. When she was done, everyone fell asleep.

Gregor tossed and turned on the cold stone floor. He finally found a comfortable enough position and fell asleep. When he awoke, he awoke to a sight he did not want to see. Ripred was pacing around the room.

Ripred, noticing Gregor was awake, came over to him. "The group has disappeared" he whispered frantically.


	5. Update

**Hey Guys**

I'm really sorry guys I've been gone a long time and i apologize. If you guys are still here and still care leave a review on this chapter saying that you want the story to keep going. I'm making this story for you guys, so if you guys want it there's no reason for me to keep writing. So please if you do want the story to keep going just let me know in a review, or if you want just pm me. Thank You


	6. Chapter 5

**Hey guys I appreciate all the feedback , and will continue to work on the story as long as I have supporters like all of you.**

"What!" Gregor blurted, astonished. How could they have left? He looked over. Ripred was right, a food basket was gone and half of the water sacks were gone. "How could they!"

"The whole group left! I do not know what they were thinking! The fliers and humans. They left I, you, the pup, and a crawler!" Ripred muttered as he paced in front of Gregor. "How could they leave us so defenseless? No fliers! Barely any food!"

Gregor thought for a second. Would they really leave? Could they get the others back without Gregor? They could have left with the water sacks and could have had the basket full and catch fish on the way. How could they leave them so defenseless without fliers and little water and food? Gregor knew they did not like rats, but Luxa was bonded to Ripred. Could she do that to him? Was it legal?

"They have left!" Gregor exclaimed. "Most of the water sacks are gone and a food basket is missing!"

"Now calm down boy. Let us drink and eat to calm our thoughts," Ripred shushed Gregor, noticing Boots and Temp had waken from their talking.

Gregor took a deep breath and came out dizzy. He opened the food basket and took out a cake. He grabbed a few plates and four water sacks from the harness and brought them over to the small group. Gregor handed everyone a slice of cake and handed out the water sacks. He sat down near Boots and took a bite of his slice of cake.

Moments passed which turned into hours. Ripred began to twitch and mutter to himself. The torches were beginning to fade and Boots was beginning to yawn. How long had they been abandoned for? Gregor still could not believe they had been ditched. That was when he heard a flutter of wings. He looked toward the mouth of the cave and in flew all eleven bats, carrying either a rider, basket, or a few water sacks. They landed before Ripred. Ripred stomped over to Luxa, his heavy tread made everyone shutter.

Luxa had her hand on Aurora's head. Ripred stuck his snout up close to Luxa's face. "What were you thinking?! You scared us all half to death! The pup was so scared she almost cried!" Ripred growled, his hot breath blowing Luxa's hair back.

"We were merely filling the basket up to full with fish, and refilling a few water sacks. I mustn't tell you every place I go," Luxa retorted, her arms crossed over her chest.

"I am your bond! If that means anything to you!" Ripred snorted. "You must tell bonds where you go, always! You are a young and naive pup who cannot use her brain! I must watch you or you will get yourself killed! If you ever pull something like this again I will send you back to Regalia! No matter what Aurora says!"

"Bonding does mean something to I! Obviously not you, YOU eat your own young if hungry!" Luxa said, disgusted.

Ripred glared at her. She had touched something that had made him angry. He had lost his pups and wife in a flood. He got ready to lunge, his legs muscles rippling. His eyes burned into Luxa's, he was after blood, her blood.

Aurora fluttered between them, Ripred almost plowed right into her but she did not lose her cold stare on the both of them, Ripred and Luxa. "You mustn't fight! You both do know you know what bondment is! Thee only thing you do not know is how to love!" Aurora hissed.

Ripred sat back on his haunches. "Luxa obviously does not know what love is..."

Luxa glared at Ripred. She jumped onto Aurora's neck and looked back at Ripred. "Run like the river, Ripred," she said coldly. And with that, they were gone.

Howard was about to jump onto Nike's back when Ripred struck him with his tail. Howard was sent flying across the cave. He gasped and Nike fluttered to his side and wrapped her wings around him. And Mareth went over to check his vitals.

"You are just going to let her leave!" Gregor said.

"She will most likely go back to Regalia, if she uses her brain. If not Aurora will surely talk her out of going to the Spirit lands alone," Ripred muttered as he picked up a harness in his teeth. "We must head out."

After the bats ate their fill on the fish they went fishing one last time and filled the empty spaces in the baskets. Mareth packed the water sacks onto Blaze and Poyo's backs, making sure the harness straps were tights but not digging into their skin. Howard, when he recovered, he loaded the baskets onto Zinx's and Tine's backs. After he tightened the straps he had the harnessed bats Zues and Zorro, fly up so he could harness Ripred.

Gregor helped Boots onto Mace's back and sat behind her. Temp scurried up behind them. After all the bats were harnessed up with their loads the rest of the humans mounted their fliers and they took off in the direction of the fire lands.

"Are we they yet?" Boots asked after two hours of flying. They were then flying over dry lands with tiny creeks running through it, with little animals running along the grass.

"Not yet. It will be a little bit until we land. If you have to go pee just say so," Gregor replied as he ran his fingers through her long curls.

"I can't see anything," Boots whined.

"You will be able to when we land. We will light a few torches and the creeks have light bubbles coming from them," Gregor reassured.

Boots laid against Gregor's chest and drifted off to sleep. Gregor yawned. He pulled Boots closer to him and laid back onto Mace's back. His head rested on Temp's shell. Gregor drifted to sleep with Boots' warm body pressed against him he felt like he was back at home. Even Temp fell asleep.

"Warrior, warrior, you must wake now," Mace whispered as he nudged Gregor with his snout.

Gregor opened his eyes. They had landed in a large bare field. No plants, not even vines or moss in any direction as far as the eye could see. Gregor slid off of Mace's back. Boots was already up and she was helping Howard make sandwiches while Temp handed them out. Gregor walked over to Howard's side and helped pass sandwiches out and fish and water sacks. When they were done making enough sandwiches for everyone, Gregor sat down and began to eat his.

"Can we take a walk?" Boots asked after she and Gregor finished their sandwiches.

Gregor looked at Ripred for conformation, the rat was gulping down a whole fish. He nodded before he was going at another fish. Gregor stood up and walked out towards a creek. Boots and Temp followed behind, picking up rocks and tossing them then retrieving them then doing the same thing. The barren land cracked under Gregor's heavy tread while Temp seemed to glide over it.

Gregor stood before a small trickling creek. It had tiny light bubbles bursting when they hit the surface. He knelt down to where he could see little creatures running around on the ground. They looked like tiny bugs, carrying pebbles and little pieces of food. Boots laid her hand on the ground and watched as bugs crawled around on it. She crawled as three climbed upon the back of her hand. Temp's antennae flew over the bugs, like he was passing information back and forth.

"They say we shall not be here, be here not we," Temp hissed.

"Why not?" Gregor asked.

"Area is not safe, many enemies be here," Temp exclaimed.

"What kind of enemies?" Gregor asked, worry in his voice.

"Masked bandits they be," Temp said in a hushed whisper.

Just as Gregor was about to tell them they should head back, Mace came diving down and swooped all three of them onto his back. He flew upward and leveled out behind the other bats. What type of masked bandits could possibly live around there? Gregor thought that he had already heard of all of the creatures that lived in the Underland.

"What is happening!" Gregor yelled over the frantic flutter of wings as he settled himself and Boots comfortably.

"Some creature has attacked the group with spears. They attacked when we moved the group close to a large patch of vines that were not seen when we first landed. We did not see who attacked," Mace gasped. "They way they sounded when they moved. They sounded large. Larger than Ripred."

Gregor looked down at the vines and saw that something was moving through the long vines. He only saw grayish colored fur and a long fluffy ringed tail. The creatures were following the group at a fast pace. The bats flew over the parched land which turned into frost covered ground and it became twenty degrees cooler. The group landed and instantly Boots climbed down to play in the frost and Temp did too, his antennae fluttered above the frost, he was unsure of what is was.

"I thought you guys didn't have f-frost down here," Gregor chattered, he had goosebumps climbing up his arms.

"I do believe we get very little. We are deep in the Underland. It sometimes falls from the air, like moisture freezes then falls. Snow is what you call it," Ripred explained as Mareth unharnessed him.

"Don't you have to have clouds to make snow?" Gregor asked.

"Most likely you must need clouds. That is why we do not understand why this thing called 'snow', falls here in this one place in the Underland. The Underland does not hold a sky. I do not know why it snows," Mareth wondered. "It is cold. We must sleep in a tight group."

The bats formed a circle around the humans, Temp, and Ripred with a large blanket over their backs which made a ceiling thing over the small group inside the circle. In the circle everyone laid with the baskets and water sacks near a pair of bats. Howard took out dried plants and a kit of matches from the first aid basket. He started a fire to cook some fish and meat. Gregor stuck his sword through a chunk of meat and held it over the fire. He missed having Luxa's company. Boots was to young to have a complex conversation with and Temp and the bats kept to themselves. Mareth and Howard were always talking to each other and Ripred was always a grump.

Gregor finished cooking the meat and he cut it into sections and handed a chunk out to each person and Mareth handed fish to Ripred, Temp, and the bats. Gregor sat down next to Boots and ate his meat, his teeth could barely pull of a strip of meat from his chunk. He wondered what type of meat it was.

"Great cold comes at night here," Mareth started as he handed out pillows and blankets. "Huddle up close to your neighbor and use the blankets wisely."

The bats closed the gaps between them and huddled so close the tips of their ears touched one another. Mareth and Howard huddled together with a blanket over top of them. Ripred carefully laid down on their feet to keep frost bite away, he motioned to Gregor.

"It will be very cold. You and the pup need to keep warm," he mumbled.

Gregor curled up to Ripred, his back to the rats furry, warm belly. Boots climbed next to Gregor. Temp came up and huddled next to Boots. Ripred wrapped his tail around the three and Gregor threw the blanket over them and laid his head on the large pillow. He quickly fell asleep, wrapped in the warmth of Ripred's warm belly and the sound of Boots' soft snoring. Ripred seemed to wiggle around a bit, it is not everyday he gets to sleep with an overland rager, a six year old girl, and a cockroach. Gregor fell into a deep sleep.

'Gregor saw a stooped , with long scraggly hair and beard in the prophecy room. He was going through all of the prophecies with a confused look on his face. His dream switched to the man getting killed by a large white rat. The rat bit the mans throat and bellowed he let the body fall to the ground.'

Gregor woke up from his dream with a shudder. Ripred's eyes popped open and he peered at Gregor with his tiny, beady little eyes.

"Bad dream?" Ripred asked as he yawned.

Gregor nodded, but said nothing. He stood up and stretched, his knuckles hitting the top of the blanket. The rest of the group was awakening. The bats shook off the blanket, revealing a blinding cover of snow on the ground.

"Good thing we had the blanket over us, or we would be frozen where we lay," Ripred blubbered as he stretched.

"We must eat then immediately go. It will soon get colder, we may not be able to fly soon for the air will be too cold," Mareth exclaimed.

"I will prepare the food," Howard said as he opened up the food basket.

"How long until we find the Spirit fire or whatever?" Gregor asked.

"No more than a few days time I suppose," Ripred replied.


	7. Chapter 6

**I really appreciate all the feedback guys.**  
After the group ate, Howard and Mareth began to harness up the bats. Ripred sat in his sling, his head resting on his paw. Gregor mounted Mace, Boots was sitting on Mace's back sitting criss-cross-apple-sauce, talking to Temp in cockroach and human. After everyone was safely harnessed or mounted, Mace flew up behind Nike and squeaked to her. The bats squeaked back and forth, words that humans could not understand. Gregor watched the vines, looking for any sign of movement but found none.

"You will not catch sight of them. They are quite sly. We not even saw them coming," Mace claimed.

Gregor looked up from the vines, feeling sheepish. Why did he think he could see them? Maybe because he saw ones tail earlier. He laid his head down on Mace's neck. He heard rustling of branches and vines, he heard a whiz of something flying through the air. Next thing he knew a arrow went straight through Mace's delicate wing and Mace screeched. He plummeted towards the ground and skidded on his stomach when he hit the ground. Mace rolled, head over heels a few times, spilling Gregor, Boots, and Temp onto the ground.

Mace writhed around on the ground, flapping his good wing. Boots had been picked up by Temp who had took to the air when he had been flung off of Mace's back. Temp landed perfectly before Gregor, with Boots on his back. Gregor had skidded onto his face, he lifted his head from the ground. Gregor's nose hurt, he wondered if he had broken it. Mace screeched and wiggled, trying to lift himself from being so vulnerable on the ground.

The rest of the group had landed. Ripred had somehow got himself out of the sling and Mareth and Howard had their swords drawn towards the vines around them. Mareth walked over to Mace's side, looking his wing over. It was in an awkward position, it jetted straight out behind the bat in an uncomfortable position, blood oozed out onto the ground making a dark puddle.

"What ambushed us?" Gregor muttered as he lifted himself from the ground and brushed his pants off.

"We are not sure. They have gone now and we caught no sight of them. The fliers had heard them but did not see where they came from," Mareth informed as he stretched Mace's wing out.

Mace let out a long squeak of pain. Howard knew more of doctor things and he knew that Mace's wing was badly injured. It had been dislocated when Mace landed and flipped, the skin was badly torn with a large gash, big enough to see through. Mace tried hard not to move when Howard put his wing back into place. Howard then began to work over the skin. He dabbed medicine on it and pulled string and a needle from the first aid kit. He slid the needle through the bats skin and connected the skin back together. When the whole was no longer open Howard cut the string and tied it tight.

"Stretch your wing to make sure the string is taut," Howard instructed.

Mace slowly stretched his wing, wincing from the pain. It was stiff, but the string did not loosen or rip when Mace flapped it. Ripred came over to examine the wing and frowned.

"This will surely slow us down. You can fly, if you want to rip it more and dislocate it again," Ripred emphasized. "The best thing to do is rest one day. We are running low on food. The fish was polished off yesterday. We still have some meat, bread, cakes, and greens but we need to find more food if we want to last to the Spirit lands."

"Ripred is right. One day's rest will help my wing. I am sure I can manage flying for a few short periods of time as long as we rest," Mace said.

"Let us rest. Fliers form a circle and Howard unstrap the fliers and take out blankets and food," Mareth instructed.

When the bats were relieved of their baskets they formed a circle. Howard put a blanket over the top of them to keep the chill out. When he was done he made meat and oatmeal for the people, the bats, Ripred, and Temp ate slices of cake. After they ate everyone went to sleep. Gregor curled up next to Ripred with Boots and Temp. He stopped shivering from Ripred's warmth and Boots put her cold nose into Gregor's warm chest.

When Gregor awoke, the hair on his arms stood up straight. He could see his breath even though it was pitch black. The bats shook of the blanket. The ground held a new blanket of frost. Ripred stood up and glared at the snow. He was cold, his teeth chattered.

"Will the snow slow us down at all?" Gregor asked.

"It should not. Unless there is frost in the air. If there is it will bother the fliers eyes. We must find some food then eat and leave as soon as possible," How declared.

"We can manage the cold," Blaze sputtered.

"We will let a group go out to look for food. Temp will go, he knows about fish. There is a good creek not to far. Maybe there will be fresh fruit. We will meet that group up from the creek," Mareth mentioned.

A few bats left with their baskets and sacks and Ripred. Howard and Nike and Temp went with the bats. Gregor and Boots ate then they carefully mounted Mace. Mareth came to the bat and told him if he felt sore just land, and that he should fly easily. Mareth then mounted Andromeda and they flew off. Mace followed along slowly behind Andromeda. Gregor kept his ears focused on every noise and kept his eyes to the vines. They flew over a frosted ground with vines dotting the sides.

Gregor looked at the frosty ground and saw a frozen rat carcass, luckily Boots could not see in the dark like he could. Gregor and Boots soon fell asleep. In his dreams he could smell the sweet scent of Boots' hair and feel the wind running through his short hair. Mace soon landed which woke Gregor and Boots. When he woke he noticed the rest of the group had caught up with them. He slid off of a panting Mace and set Boots on Temp's shell and Temp carried her over to Mareth so he could put a blanket around her.

"We caught a few fish and got some water. There was not any fresh fruit," Howard said as he unharnessed a bat and put the basket on the ground.

"So,how does this whole thing work out? How many people and what people come back with Ares?" Gregor asked Mareth who was helping Ripred out of his harness.

"We are not exactly sure who comes back. We believe some will return with Ares, the others will come back but we must find them. The fire is said to show images of whom we must seek. There is no number of whom can return. Anyone Ares was heard of, feared, loved, worshiped, can come back. All of these people can be seen through his claw." Mareth replied.

Ripred came over to Gregor. "Only a few days left till we are there," he said.

Gregor looked in the food basket. They had caught a few fish for the bats and Temp. Other than that all was left was meat, bread, and greens. Temp could go weeks without food, even though it was sickening to let him starve. Mareth looked at the food. He was astonished. He told everyone they only got a handful of food except Boots who got to have her fill. Mareth took out the loaf of bread and cut it into slices. The bats ate the fish and so did Temp, and Ripred ate one fish and whined afterwards for how hungry he was.

Mareth handed out little rations of bread to the humans and handed a water sack around. Boots ate like she hadn't eaten in months. Gregor had to give up his bread for her because she was still hungry. Gregor remembered when a rat named Twitchtip gave her food to Boots. Twitchtip was a scent seer, just a more reason to hate people. The rat had been tortured by the other rats until she died.

The bats huddled around the group after they ate. Mareth spread an extra thick blanket over the bats. It was so cold, even Temp let off steam from his body. Gregor wrapped up with Boots and Ripred under the blanket, he soon fell asleep.

'"So when did you figure out your 'gift'?" Gregor asked a rat.

"I learned it when my mother was with me. I was lying in my nest and my mother was cleaning. I asked her if she had ever left her earlier pups. She asked me how I knew that," the rat began. "I told her I could smell her biggest secret. She had left her first litter for there was no food and she could not bare to eat them."

"Oh, well how did she feel about it?" Gregor asked.

"She thought it was amazing. She told everyone. Some thought of me as a freak, some thought I was a gift," the rat started. "I...still do not know which to believe."

Gregor scooted closer to the rat. "You are not a freak. I wish I could do that! I mean, with being a rager who can see in the dark and that put on top, I think that would be awesome," Gregor indicated. "I think you are amazing."

The rat smiled faintly. "It is not all fun. I do not want to know others secrets...only my own."'

Gregor jolted upright. Boots stirred and tossed her head to the side and snored loudly. He had to pee. Even if it was cold outside he had too pee before he wet himself. How embarrassing that would be with a rude rat, and a six year old who just got out of pull ups. Gregor slipped on his boots and carefully squeezed through the bats. The cold air made his nose burn and the hair on his arms stand up straight.

He pulled down his pants and peed into the vines which instantly froze when it hit the ground. The cold air crawled up his skin which made his hands tremble when he pulled up his pants. He tripped on his shoe lace and fell face first into the cold frost. When he rolled over he met a pair of glowing yellow eyes in a dark, black mask.


	8. Chapter 7

**I Greatly Appreciate the Continued Feedback Guys  
**The next thing he knew, he was being carried over the shoulder of a large and furry creature. His nose was buried in its thick gray fur, it smelt of the forest and dust. They had bound his hands and shoved a fruit in his mouth to keep him quiet. He still had not seen the creature, he hadn't a clue of what it could be. Gregor tried to kick his feet and pound on the back of the creature with his bound hands, yet none of this seemed to work. He looked up at the creature that was walking behind the one he rode on. It was tall, taller and bulkier than Ripred. It had grayish brown fur with fluffy ringed tail. Gregor knew instantly what it was. The mask and ring tail, it was a raccoon. A giant raccoon who could stand upright.

Gregor kicked his feet some more, which made the raccoon angry and it tossed him on the ground and he landed on his back. He moaned, the blow had knocked the wind behind him and he could not have saved himself for his hands were still bound. The raccoon cut Gregor's bindings then lowered him into a large pit that had been dug into the ground. The pit was at least ten feet tall and four feet wide, too tall for Gregor to climb, and the walls were too slick.

A few moments later a large basket was being lowered down from a rope. It gently landed before Gregor and he untied it. The rope slipped back up the wall, oh how Gregor wished he could climb that easily up the walls. The basket contained a few plums, what looked like dried vines, a homemade bowl of water, and blankets made from heavy leaves. Gregor grabbed the bowl of water and pressed it to his lips. The cool water quenched everything in his body, he hadn't drank since the night before. When he chugged down half of the bowl he moved onto the plums. He bit into one and it washed over his tongue. It was bitter sweet and fizzed like soda. Gregor threw the pit from his mouth after he had chewed all of the meat from it.

When the plums vanished he warily stripped a thin piece off of the dried vine. It had a smokey flavor and was salty, it was like eating barbecued sea weed, he liked it though. Sea weed was even said to be a delicacy in some places, but he couldn't think of being in some royal hotel and eating sea weed at the moment. He didn't think hotel people threw you in a pit. When Gregor finished the vine he was quite satisfied, well maybe his stomach, but not his mind. He looked up, no way he could scale the walls, even if he could, he did not know where to go, nor did he have any weapons on him. He decided to get some shut eye, the group would be up soon and hopefully looking for him.

He wrapped the blanket around him and curled into a tight ball to keep warm. The pit actually seemed to be warmer than up on ground, but it was still cold and Gregor's teeth chattered. He finally nodded off into a cold, deep sleep. The raccoon's checked on him every once in a while, making sure he was still their prisoner. Some chattered among themselves when they watched him, like saying "What is this strange creature among us?"

When he awoke, a large fresh basket awaited him. It held two peaches, another bowl of water, and a large deep bowl. What was the second bowl for? It was empty, so what could he use it for? Then a light clicked on in Gregor's head. It was supposed to be for a bathroom. Luckily, because he had to pee. He pulled the bowl out and set in a corner. Before he unbuttoned his pants he checked his surroundings maker sure no one was watching. When he was sure no one was looking he pulled down his pants and peed in the bowl. When he was done he dug a small hand and poured the bowls remains in it and then carefully filled the hole with dirt. He then sat down and at a plum. His legs were cramped from not being able to walk around to much.

Gregor looked up at the pit opening at the sound of chattering voices of raccoons. Two plump raccoons looked down at him as they chattered at each other. Why did they have to be so damn nosey? Couldn't they tell he was already pissed off enough?

"What be thou name?" a gruff voice came from the first masked face.

Gregor swallowed hard. He wasn't expecting to talk to these creatures. But he should have known, most creatures could talk in the Underland. Maybe he didn't think they could speak English because they had no human contact what so ever.

"Uh. My name is Gregor. Gregor the Overlander," Gregor sheepishly replied.

The two chattered again. He caught some words like "Overlander", "Could he be?", and "What shall we do?" That could not be good if they were wondering what they should do with him.

"Overlander. The above?" the second masked face asked.

Gregor didn't know what "The above" was supposed to mean. "Can you repeat the question?" he asked.

"The above? Shalt you not be?" the second masked face asked again.

The first raccoon scowled at the second like it was stupid. "Be you above grounder? Tower walker?" it asked.

"Oh. Above grounder, also known as the Overland. And 'Tower Walker' must mean the city of New York," Gregor thought. Then he nodded, "I am he who walks..um...the tower. An above grounder I am."

The two raccoons nodded and let out an "Ah" of understandment. Then they peered closer to him, sniffing.

"So..um..why am I here?" Gregor asked.

"Studied yes. Shalt you be interesting, no? Rager no? Scent I did smell on you," the second raccoon pronounced.

"Am I a rager? Yeah, I found it out a long time ago," Gregor squeaked.

The two excitedly chattered. "Be you excellent fighter? Well with sword?"

"Well I hit the total fifteen blood balls if that helps. Why does it matter?" Gregor asked.

"It matters much! Now let us go," the second raccoon said and they turned on their heels and walked off.

"What! They are just going to leave me here!" Gregor angrily muttered to himself.

Gregor sifted the dirt with the worn toe of his boot. Would he ever get out? Were the others ever find him? Surely they would have found him by now...if they were even trying. Gregor began to fall asleep but then was jerked awake. A raccoon was binding his hands behind his back and throwing him upon its back. Then it dug its claws into the dirt and climbed up the wall, making it look easy. When it reached the top it set Gregor on the ground.

"Hey! What are you doing with me?" Gregor asked, bewildered.

"Be you rager? Be you?" the raccoon hissed.

"Well yeah...but what does that have to do with-" Gregor started.

"Does not matter to you. Matter not," the raccoon cut him off. "Follow yes?"

Gregor nodded and the raccoon took hold of one of his shoulders. It led him to a large clearing in the middle of the vines. In the middle of the clearing was a large corral type thing made from rocks and wines. The corral thing looked like something a boxer fought in. The raccoon untied Gregor's hands then pushed him into the corral. Soon the corral was swarmed by raccoon peers. Then a large scarred raccoon stepped into the corral with Gregor. Gregor was handed a large sword. Raccoons began to hand jewel and other items to a lead raccoon. They were placing bets!

"Hey! Whoa wait! I can't fight him! You got this all wrong!" Gregor hollered as he tugged on the taut vines.

The head raccoon let out a long screech and the large raccoon in the corral began to stalk towards Gregor. Rager sensations began to course through Gregor's body. His mind slowed and his vision altered. He pin pointed the major arteries on the raccoon, the stomach, wrists, tendons, and neck. The raccoon jumped at Gregor and Gregor drove the sword into its shoulder, missing all major arteries. The raccoon bellowed in pain, then launched at Gregor a second time. The raccoon stopped in mid air. Gregor's rager sensation was at full course. His mind whizzed through all possible places he could attack, it stopped at the raccoon's side. Gregor drove the sword into the raccoon's side, he quickly pulled it out and the creature fell to the ground.

Gregor knew it would live, he had purposely missed all the major arteries. He did not intend to kill the thing. The crowd applauded and Gregor looked around in disgust. How could they applaud him! The downed raccoon was soon taken out to receive medical attention. Gregor dropped the sword and it clanked on the ground, his chest heaved. His head spun and his heart pounded. A light cream colored raccoon tied his hands and led him back to a hut.

"Our best warrior you defeated. Great fighter be you," the raccoon indicated. The voice was higher, probably a female.

"I am she called princess Arrylle. You must sleep here. Defeating greatest warrior...spectacular," she dictated.

"Wait...why am I here?" Gregor asked. "And why did I have to fight?"

"Be you Overlander, yes?" she asked.

Gregor nodded, "I have to do with this how?"

"We test human fighters. Kyronell found you, you scented of certain smell," she replied.

"Can I ever go?" Gregor muttered.

"Sadly, no. I am truly sorry. Now you must sleep. Morning you return to your pit," Arylle declared as she cut Gregor's ropes and pushed him into the hut.

How could they not let him go? He couldn't live with them all his life! He had to find Ares then go home. They were out of their minds! He guessed that there would be guards outside of the hut so he didn't even try to escape. Even though he was supposed to fall asleep, he could not seem to find a comfortable position on his leafy bed. When he finally fell asleep it seemed no longer than an hour until a guard came in and led him to his pit again. He was to tired to reject this assault. When he woke up again he peered into a pale, violet eyes face.


	9. Chapter 8

**You Guys Are Awesome! Couldn't Do It Without You Guys!**

Gregor was thrown onto the back of a furry creature. Another raccoon? Couldn't be. The thing instantly flew up into the sky when Gregor was safely planted on its back. Gregor whirled around to to face Luxa, she was dressed a fluffy raccoon hide. If it wasn't for the eyes, Gregor would have thought she was a raccoon, other than it riding Aurora.

"Greetings, just thought I might save your hide once again," Luxa laughed.

Gregor didn't feel relieved that she was here. He wanted to know why it was her who was there and not Ripred or Mareth. Why didn't they try to find him? Why was he here without them? They could have easily found him. Why was it Luxa who was there?

"How did you find me? And, where did you go?" Gregor asked.

"Aurora picked up your scent. I have been following the group ever since I abandoned you. No one has noticed that I was following behind," Luxa noted.

Aurora gently landed behind the group, who was lazing around except Boots, she was searching the vines calling out Gregor's name. Mareth and Howard rushed up to slid off of Aurora's back, he was pissed. Luxa slid off also, she had a smirk on her face.

"Did you miss me?" Luxa smirked.

Howard took Luxa in his arms and hugged her tightly, a tear rolled down his face. "Do not ever leave again. Do not ever frighten me again!"

"Seems as thou Queen has come back. And why? Did you finally feel guilty for once? For abandoning us without you to protect us?" Ripred smirked,"Where were you boy?"

"Me? Oh I was on a wonderful vacation. I just thought it would be nice to get kid-napped by a pack of raccoon's and leave you for a while without you coming to find me...Why do you ask?" Gregor growled.

"What wear you upon your back? And yes, those nasty little buggers are mischievous aren't they? How did your vacation go?" Ripred laughed.

"I slayed a..raccoon? It kept life in me from its warmth. And it kept me being unseen when I went to save Gregor," Luxa replied. She seemed to look down on Ripred, even though he was a good foot taller.

"Are you feeling ill Gregor?" Mareth asked as he put his hand on Gregor's forehead.

"Oh, no. Just the whole kid-napping thing kinda spooked me I guess," Gregor lied.

"I found many fruits on my way. I also stole a basket last night and filled it. Or have you not noticed?" Luxa remarked.

"Oh yes we noticed. I could smell your scent on it. Considering we have eaten, and you must have also, we need to mount up and leave," Ripred declared.

Mareth nodded in agreement and he, Howard and Luxa began to pack the baskets onto the bats back. A group left to look for food and good water. Gregor and Ripred were putting away supplies in silence, until Ripred finally broke it.

"What did they do to you boy?" Ripred asked, he must have smelt Gregor's worries.

Gregor shifted his weight. "Uhh...they made me fight. But it was nothing," Gregor said quickly.

"I know you have not killed in many years, that you do not want to either. Just push it aside boy," Ripred reassured.

"I didn't kill him. Only a flesh wound. I hit him in the side," Gregor replied.

Ripred smiled at him. "Good, no need to kill when someone does not deserve it. Off we go then."

After Ripred got strapped in, they flew off over the frosty ground. Boots was so happy to see Gregor that she did not stop hugging him until they landed in a field to rest. Gregor slumped off of Mace's back and slumped to the ground. He had not hurt a creature for so long he had forgotten what it felt to kill. He had not made another creature draw blood in at least two years.

Ripred walked over to Gregor and sat by him. "I know you dont find me to...well... like able. I am an old gnarled rat who has not felt real love for someone in many years. I care for you Gregor..." Ripred stuttered. "If you do not believe it, well I am sorry. I do not want you to be sickened by killing. If you shall need any reassurance than just tell me."

Ripred got up awkwardly, nodded at Gregor, and trudged off to Mareth who was handing out fruit. That was the nicest thing Ripred had ever said to Gregor, or anyone for that matter. Did something change in Ripred when Gregor left for those many years?

"Enjoy a fruit with me will you?" Luxa asked as she sat next to Gregor and handed him a fuzzy fruit.

Gregor examined the fruit. "Thanks. So are you and Ripred still on different corners?" Gregor asked as he bit into the fruit which sprayed juices onto his chin.

"Yes, I and Ripred are on the same "corner" as you say. We have come to our senses and become happy with each other again." Luxa replied.

"Ripred can be a real pain in the ass sometimes," Gregor replied.

"Yes he can. But he means allot to me. He has helped me through much. Even when you left he was there for me, for the most part," Luxa replied.

"Yeah, me too. Every trip I take I like Ripred being there. He makes me feel...secure I guess," Gregor muttered.

Luxa leaned over and kissed Gregor on the cheek. "Oh uhm..sorry," she stuttered and she stumbled over to Mareth.

Gregor's face flushed red and he touched his cheek. He looked over to find Ripred staring at him. He shot him a "what are you looking at" look. Ripred shrugged his shoulders and turned back to Mareth. Gregor took a blanket from the basket and curled up on the ground. He was tired from the long day and the long flight. Boots soon came and curled up next to him with Temp at her feet. Soon the rest of the group came over and situated themselves. Ripred curled up next to Gregor and he felt safe, no way he would go out to pee alone. Luxa also layed next to him, to where Boots was in the middle of them and Luxa looked at Gregor in the eye  
Gregor pulled Boots close to his chest, her curls tickling his nose. Her sweet smell soon comforted him and he fell asleep. Gregor woke up with a stiff neck, his pillow had slipped out from under his head. Gregor sat up and rubbed his neck. He looked over and saw Boots, she had the pillow all to herself.

"So how do you guys know where we are going? No Underlanders have ever traveled here and its not on the map." Gregor declared.

"All we must know is it is in between the Fire Lands and the Arch Of Tantalus. It is closer to the Arch Of Tantalus, for there are some jungle. We did not even know this so called snow fell here, it must be for it is colder here." Mareth replied.

"Before we start out we must look for more food and water. We also need fire supplies. We are running quite short." Howard added.

"I know of a place where fresh, clean fruit grows and where the water runs fast. There are few fish, small yet edible." Luxa noted.

"I, Luxa, Andromeda, Aurora and Ripred will look for food and water. The rest of you must stay. Be safe, do not go anywhere. Howard...you make sure of that." Mareth clarified as he grabbed a few water sacks and mounted Andromeda.

Luxa strapped four water sacks onto Ripred's back before she herself mounted Aurora. The four set off into the vines, one of the two baskets tied to Andromeda's back. Gregor took out a stale chunk of bread from the other basket and cut it into and Temp came up beside him and took their share of the bread. Gregor then passed out a slice to each bat and one to Howard and one for himself.

"I know I have not spoken much on this trip...but I am much thankful of you preparing food for I and the other fliers." Blaze blurted as Gregor handed him a slice of bread.

"Oh...well umm you're very welcome. And all you other fliers you are very welcome. Its the least I can do since you carry all of the food, you deserve it." Gregor replied sheepishly.

Gregor heard rustling in the vines. Out stepped Ripred, followed by Luxa and Mareth on their fliers. Luxa and Aurora landed before Gregor, blowing his hair back.

"We filled the basket with clean fruits, fish, and vines to dry. The water sacks have fresh water, we still cannot drink too much. They must last. We must now rest for a short while, we have a long way ahead of us of which we cannot rest." Mareth advised.

The group formed their usual circle and huddled in close. Gregor could feel the body heat from the bats. Before they slept Mareth handed out a few slices of raw fish to everyone. After Gregor was done eating he laid down with Boots and fell fast asleep.

"Gregor was watching Ripred. He was talking to someone, or something. Something large and white with a deep thundering voice that shook Gregor's bones.

"No let us reason this. You want to kill me, so you can take over the Underland. All I want is peace with all," Ripred started, his paws up in surrender.

The white thing slapped Ripred with the side of its paw, making Ripred fly through the air and hit the wall with a thud. Ripreds back made a cracking sound and he crumpled to the ground.

The creature took Gregor in its paws and roared "Gregor! Gregor!"

Gregor's eyes flew open and he jolted up. He noticed Boots shaking him. He lay back down and sighed. It was just a dream. Boots shook Gregor's leg again, telling him to get up.

"Ok I am up!" Gregor mumbled as he slowly sat up.

"Heard you yelling my name boy. Were you dreaming of me?" Ripred laughed.

"No...well yeah. But it was more of a nightmare!" Gregor replied as he punched Ripred's shoulder.

"Hmph. I was beginning to think you liked me.." Ripred crooned sarcastically.

"The dream was of what Gregor?" Luxa asked.

"Oh nothing really..I sorta forgot." Gregor lied.

"Whatever you may have dreamed, you must eat." Mareth said as he handed Gregor a fruit and a piece of fish.

Gregor bit into the fruit, its spurted all over his face. "Boots, remember to go pee before we go. It will be a long flight." Gregor told through a mouthful of fruit.

Gregor when finished wiped his hands on his pants then he, Boots, and Temp mounted Mace who's wings had gotten better. Mace lifted into the air and trailed behind Andromeda. Gregor's mind flipped back to his dream as he sat on the bat. Could Ripred really die? Ripred had cheated many deaths. But would his death be part of the prophecy? Luxa said a few must sacrifice their lives for the ones being brought back...could Ripred be one?

"Are you feeling well Overlander? I sense your worries." Mace asked wearily.

Gregor snapped back to reality. "Yeah, I am fine. Just thinking of the dream I had last night." Gregor replied.

"Yes, many dreams can be worrisome. Just know that they are not true. Unless you are Nerissa...or I..for I too dream of the future. I almost bonded with Nerissa..." Mace said.

"Why didn't you bond to her?" Gregor asked. Then he felt maybe it was too personal.

"People thought of her as much to frail to have a bond and that she could not fight for her bonds life if it was ever in need. People are... judgmental really." Mace replied.

"Yeah...same as the overland. But that is just the nature of humans." Gregor exclaimed.

After a few hours of flying, Mace dove down and landed next to Aurora. Gregor slid off of Mace's back and helped Boots and Temp down. Gregor walked over to Ripred who was rummaging around through the food basket and muttering to himself.

"Ripred, how long until we get to the fire thing?" Gregor asked.

Ripred's head came up from the basket, a plum in his mouth. He swallowed it whole before he began. "Come with me boy." Ripred instructed and he grabbed Gregor's shoulder with his paw and led him over to the wall of a canyon.

The walls sloped down abruptly. If you were not watching where you walked you would be sure to free fall down into the void. The walls led down into pitch blackness where the human eye could see no further. Gregor got a sick feeling in his stomach as he looked down, who knew how deep it was. He had to step back from the edge to keep his balance.

"That boy...is the spirit lands."


	10. Chapter 9

**You Guys Are The Best! 3**

"Wow. So we could go down there right now? What are we waiting for? There is no point to sit here if they are just right there! Let's go!" Gregor urged.

"Whoa now come down boy. That is where you go wrong. The spirit lands is said to have many winding tunnels, and that the fire is quite hard to seek." Ripred cajoled.

"Oh. Sorry. Well when can we go?" Gregor asked sheepishly.

"After a days rest. My paws are aching and you do not look so good yourself boy. Don't worry, it will not be too long. We need rest before we start off. It will all be on foot to find the fire." Ripred replied.

After they ate the circle was formed and Gregor lay down with Boots, wrapped in Ripred's tail. Gregor looked up at the sky and began to miss the stars. "Ripred...if you could have anything in the world to come back in the fire...what would it be?" Gregor asked, mostly out of thought.

Ripred twitched his tail and shifted his weight to his other hip, keeping his tail wrapped around Gregor. "Most likely my life...the flood took everything I loved...my pups..my wife." Ripred replied, a hint of sadness lurking in his voice.

"Yeah. What was their names?" Gregor asked cautiously.

"My wife's name is...was..Mistmoon. My one pup, Silksharp." Ripred muttered.

"Some people and creatures I want to come back are Hamnet, Tick, and...Twitchtip." Gregor claimed.

Ripred snorted,"Since when were you and Twitchtip such good lads? I thought she hated you.."

Gregor shrugged,"I just liked her. She was different. I understood her."

Ripred looked Gregor up and down, then rolled over to where he wasn't facing him. Gregor rolled over and hugged Boots close. The next thing Gregor knew is that Ripred shoved a plum in his mouth and nudged him towards Mace where Temp and Boots sat upon the bats' back. Gregor didn't even get time to wake up before he climbed onto Mace's back. He sat behind Boots and took a bite out of his plum. Mareth helped strap Ripred up then mounted his own bat. Gregor didn't have a clue how they were going to pull of flying down the void without Ripred hitting the wall, but he knew that with Mareth they could probably accomplish it.

The group sped into the air and flew towards the ledge. After two minutes of flying above ground, Gregor felt Mace descending. He looked over the bats' head to see the group diving down into the deep, dark canyon. Zues and Zorro flew behind the group with Ripred out behind them. Mace dove faster and faster down into the canyon. Gregor's ears began to pop from the drop of oxygen.

Mace tilted up and stretched out his wings so the currents could catch him. The currents caught his weight and carried him slowly to the ground. He then landed on the bottom of the void, which was moist and cold. The rest of the group gently landed behind Mace. Gregor slipped down off of Mace's back and rubbed his eyes.

"That was exhilarating." Gregor told, his eyes watering.

Boots slid down next to Gregor. "It was like a roller coaster!" she squealed with delight.

"Yes. What fun that was!" Ripred said sarcastically as he rubbed the parts where the seat had cut into his skin.

"Not to me, fun, not to me." Temp said under a shaky breath.

"Well, let us set off then. Fliers, my apologies for the inconvenience but you cannot fly in these tunnels. They be only five feet wide, not enough for the wings to stretch." Mareth noted as he started down a tunnel.

"What of the baskets? The bats cannot carry the baskets as they hop along." Luxa said.

Mareth looked down at Temp and Ripred. "Oh please tell me I do not have to carry a basket. I know I am strong but really...a basket?" Ripred groaned.

"Yes. You and Temp must carry them. You are the only ones who can carry the baskets without stumbling." Mareth said as he unloaded a basket off a bat and strapped it onto Temp's back. "We will carry the water sacks on our shoulders so you do not."

"Oh thank you, how kind you are." Ripred said grumpily as he sat still as Mareth strapped a basket to him.

Mareth un-clipped a few water sacks from a bats harness and threw them over his shoulder, as did Howard, Luxa and Gregor. The bats lined up behind Mareth with Luxa trailing behind them. Gregor stepped behind Luxa with Boots and Temp behind him. At the rear were Howard and Ripred. The tunnel was filled with the sounds of rushing water, though there was no water in sight.

"Why does it sound like water is all around us?" Gregor asked.

"I believe the tunnel we are in is beneath a water fall. That is why cracks are dripping. When we reach the top it may be cold, snug together." Mareth told.

After an hour of walking the tunnel began to slope upwards, then it began to slope to roughly no creature could scale it. The tunnel sloped up and got much wider, to where the bats could fly. Mareth told to load up, this part was where they would fly. Ripred got into his seat and Gregor mounted Mace, followed by Boots and Temp. When everyone was seated the bats flew up the tunnel. It was hard for Mace to fly for the bats in front of him were carrying Ripred and Mace had to slow down every once in a while, making Aurora run into him.

After a while the tunnel filled with light and the group flew into a large cavern with a huge waterfall pounding into a pool of water. Gregor hopped off of Mace's back and ran up to the ledge of the pool of water. The water lay flat a good fifty feet below him. It had an eerie cloud coming from the bottom of the water fall that resembled a fire.

"It's not a fire at all! It's a cloud that looks like one." Gregor explained.

"Yes, but it has warmth coming from it. Could the cloud be scalding?" Luxa asked.

"Could be. I wouldn't want to find out myself. That is up to Gregor." Ripred blurted.

Gregor stood looking down at the water. "So is there anything I have to say...well...before I literally kill myself?" he asked.

"Not that I know of. Maybe recite something that has Ares in it. Then you must stab yourself in the heart, then you and the claw will fall together." Luxa announced.

Gregor closed his eyes and took a deep breath. How could he possibly do this? He was just a kid, why did he have to do it? What if it didn't work? Gregor shook his head, also shaking the worries away. He planted his feet firmly on the ground. "Ares." he began. "I am risking my whole life to save you. It might sounds harsh, but I really don't want to. But you are my bond and you are and always will be in my heart. I cannot let this chance slip away from me. When I plant this sword into my chest, I hope to see you again."

Gregor took the claw out of his pocket. The fur was beginning to fall off from not being frozen. Ripred laid his paw on Gregor's shoulder. "You are a good warrior. Not many would do this. Whatever happens.." the old rat choked out, "I will always remember you boy."

Ripred's words made Gregor feel sick. The light from the cloud danced over Gregor's face. It was so beautiful it made him want to jump into it, even if Ares didn't come back. Gregor took the sword out of his belt. It felt heavier than it normally did. He faced the blade towards his chest, the handle held tight in his hands. Luxa put her face into Aurora's fur as she covered Boots' eyes with her hand. All of the group looked away, except Ripred who looked sadly at Gregor. Gregor took one last deep breath. He then drove the blade deep into his chest. A squeak came from his mouth. Then everything went black. He could see himself free fall into the fire, the claw still in his was like a dream, instead of looking through your eyes, you saw yourself.

Gregor's eyes popped open. He was lying on the ground. In some sort of underwater cavern. He could see the water above him, pounding down, but he could still breath. He sat up, a large gash in his chest was pumping out blood but he felt no pain, just tiredness. Ares' claw was still in his hand. He dizzily stood up and walked into a tunnel. It was like he was in a trance, where his feet moved without his say so. The tunnel was lit by the light of the water. There were carvings of fish in the walls, or maybe they were real skeleton's, who knew. The tunnel led him into another cavern. Gregor stepped into the large round watery cavern. Blood still gushed from the wound, and he fell to his knees. He looked up to see a large, black, flying object.

"Ares." he whispered.


	11. Chapter 10

**Thank You Everyone! If you enjoy the story or have any suggestions please leave a review so I can see your guy's opinion!**

The words hit Gregor like a wall. He had not been thinking when he said them. Like his mouth knew what it was doing but his head did not get the message yet. As he said the name, the big bat flew down and landed gently beside him. When Gregor tried to touch Ares, it was like an invisible wall had been placed between them.

"Gregor, why must you be here?" Ares whispered as he fluttered his wings.

"The Underlanders found a new prophecy that said I must ask of you to redeem your life. Please Ares, you must. Everyone's lives are at stake," Gregor replied.

The bat looked confused. "What do you mean I must redeem my life?"

"Well, the prophecy says you can get your life back. Well...if you want. If you don't, a large war will occur. All humans and fliers will lose their lives," Gregor explained.

The big black bat fluttered his wings and shifted his weight. Everyone's lives that he loved were resting on his shoulders. Could he really save everyone? Or was it all a big joke? No...it couldn't be a joke. If so, how could Gregor be seeing Ares at the moment?

"I do not think I can. It does not make sense. I am just one bat, what can I do?" Ares mumbled.

Gregor felt his knees give way, and he toppled through the barrier that was between him and Ares. He fell at Ares' feet, gasping for air. The bat nudged him but he couldn't wake Gregor. Ares took Gregor's shirt in his claws and flew up into the ceiling of the cavern. He burst through the water with a splash. Ares was now flying above the waterfall, in the rock cavern. He landed before the group and gently laid Gregor down. The group looked at Ares, astonished that he was standing before them.

"Do not look at me! The boy needs help!" Ares sobbed as he took Gregor's hand in his claw.

Mareth and Howard ran to Gregor's side with a first aid kit in hand. Mareth grabbed a towel from the kit and pressed it onto Gregor's wound while Howard pumped air into his lungs. After fifteen agonizing minutes, Gregor sputtered out water and heaved. He fell back down from the pain. The towel was soaked in blood but it had stopped the bleeding. Mareth took out a roll of cloth and wrapped Gregor's wound tightly.

"I thought I died," Gregor croaked.

"No, the blade completely missed your heart," Mareth laughed.

Gregor smiled and slowly sat up. Then at the sight of Ares he stood and jumped into his wings, not caring how much it hurt to do so. He threw his arms around Ares and wept into his glossy, black fur. The bat wrapped his wings around Gregor and he to, sobbed. Ares had seemed to have gotten much bigger. He was full of muscle everywhere. He was at least eight feet tall with a wing span of twenty-two feet. He had been smaller before he died.

"You are bigger than I remember," Gregor choked out between sobs.

"Me? I have not gotten much greater in size. But you, your face is much older. You are not a boy anymore," Ares purred.

Luxa and Aurora came up and hugged Gregor and Ares together. As did Howard, Mareth, and Andromeda. Boots walked up and patted Ares's black fur, saying how much she had missed him, and how beautiful his fur was.

"I missed you also Boots. You are not, a small pup anymore. How old be you, Gregor and Boots?" Ares asked.

"I am now fifteen, Boots is six," Gregor replied.

Ares looked at Gregor and Boots. Then he looked at the rest of the group. "It has been that long...three years?"

"Two and a half more likely. Your death has been long," Luxa replied sadly.

"What I do not understand, is who comes back with him? In the prophecy it said other will come with him," Howard said.

"Ah, yes. The others," Ares called.

A flash of wings came up from the waterfall and landed before the group. There was Pandora, Howard's old bond, Thalia, the little bat who was meant to be bonded with Hazard. Pandora carried upon her back Tick, the cockroach who flew into the face of a rat. The last object on Pandora's back was...Henry. Everyone gasped as Pandora's load slid off of her back. Everyone knew he could come back, they just did not expect it.

"What is wrong? Are you not happy to see me?" Henry smirked.

Luxa covered her mouth and covered her face in Aurora's wings. Ares shifted his weight, uncomfortably. Ripred seemed fine with Henry's well being there, like he knew it would happen all along.

"I cannot say that I am happy to see you, or I would be lying to your face," Ripred taunted as he gnawed on a bone.

"Not like you haven't lied to my face before," Henry scoffed.

"You cannot say you have never lied to anyone," Ripred shot back.

Henry scowled at Ripred, like he wanted to rip his head off. He turned towards Luxa. "I see you are still bonded to Aurora...surprising. I thought maybe you would have turned on her, as you did me. Oh Aurora..how I have missed you."

"Do not speak to her! You know what you have done is far more than wrong. You do not deserve to be breathing!" Aurora hissed.

Henry put his hands up in surrender. "Who says I have not changed? You do know...people can change," Henry declared as he raised an eyebrow.

Henry turned to Ares and Gregor. "I cannot believe you Ares. You are bonds with this coward? I am surprised you nor Luxa have killed him yet. Were you waiting for me? How thoughtful of you," Henry claimed.

"I would never kill him. I am not like you, I would never deceive my own bond!" Ares hissed.

Henry took a step towards Gregor, his hand at his hip, though he held no sword. Ares flew between them, his ears back against his skull and his lips pulled back over his teeth in a evil hiss.

"You would not dare kill me again...would you?" Henry laughed.

"I would if I had to," Ares spit back.

Just then Howard came up behind Henry and clanked him over the head with a large rock, knocking him unconscious. Henry toppled onto the ground like a doll. Luxa fell to her knees, burying her face into her hands. Howard tied Henry's hands behind his back tightly and tied his knees and ankles against his back.

"We are taking him?!" Gregor asked, disgusted.

"We must. No matter what bad things he has done we cannot leave him here. He has to have a fair trial," Howard replied.

Howard threw Henry over his shoulder and walked stiffly over to Ares. The big, black bat scowled at the limp body hanging over Howard's shoulder. "He is not flying upon me!" Ares hissed.

"I will fly with him," Mace said meekly.

Howard positioned Henry on Mace's back and tied a rope around the bat's neck and Henry, so Henry would not fall off. Tick positioned herself near Temp and Boots who sat on Ares' back with Gregor. They clicked amongst themselves excitedly. Thalia was to fly under Ares' claws so he could carry her if he needed to. Pandora carried no one. Howard was still shocked that his old bond had come back, how could he have two bonds? The other bats got loaded up and they took off down a tunnel different from the one they had come.

"Do you think there is anymore who have come back?" Gregor asked, as he sat upon Ares.

"Probably. There are most likely many more who have come back, but we must find them first," Ares replied.

"How will we know where to find them?" Gregor asked.

"Well they will either come to us or messages will be sent," Ares replied. "You must rest, there will be many things to do when we get to the palace."

Gregor curled up on the bats back, feeling safer than he had in a long time. He fell asleep, dreaming of the things that he and Ares could do since he was back. Boots laid next to him, warm and flowery smelling.

When Gregor woke up they were flying towards the palace. Ares skidded into the high hall, and slowed to a stop in front of Vikus, who looked as if he had been waiting for them the whole time they had been gone.

Vikus did not look happy. He looked as if he had seen a monster. Gregor slid off of Ares' back and went up to Vikus. "What happened?" Gregor asked.

"There is news...that the Bane..has returned." Vikus said quietly.

"Is he close?" Gregor asked.

"They do not know. The last time he was heard of he was heading towards the Fire Lands. Come, all of yu, there is much to discuss."


	12. Chapter 11

**2,000 Views! Thank You All So Much!**

Gregor was given a schedule from a young Underlander. It showed what times and places he was supposed to meet for meals, and where he had to train. He was sure that the others had gotten the same schedule, just to make sure they were all there on time so they could discuss what to do about the Bane being back. The first thing on Gregor's schedule was to bathe, which he was thankful for. He would get some time to himself and he would wash the stink from his skin and get into clean clothes.

After Boots had been taken by an Underland girl, Gregor began to head towards the bathing area closest to Luxa's room. Gregor walked into the bathroom that he knew much too well. It smelled of some kind of flower and was steaming hot. He stripped down and put his clothes near the opening of the small bathroom so an Underlander could take them and clean them. Gregor slipped into the bath and sighed. The water was warm and healed his sore shoulders and the wound on his chest. He was surprised they didn't rush him into the hospital to check how his wound was doing. Gregor washed himself with a flowery soap then got out and toweled off. He found a clean pair of Underland underwear, shorts and shirt with sandals.

After he put the clean clothes on he checked his schedule which was thankfully not taken by the person who took his clothes. The schedule told him to head to the hospital to check how his wound was doing and to check his mental and physical health. Gregor shoved the schedule in the pocket of his shorts and headed out of the bathroom towards the hospital. The halls were dark, with only a few torches lit. Gregor guessed it was almost time for the city to fall asleep. He walked into the brightly lit hospital room and was ushered to a hospital bed with a clean sheet over it.

"How be you Gregor?" the female doctor asked as she pulled on a pair of gloves.

"I'm good. I heard I was supposed to come here so you could check my wound? It doesn't hurt too badly; it probably just needs another wrap over it." Gregor replied.

"Can you take off your shirt and lay down?" she asked.

"What exactly do you have to do?" Gregor asked as he lay down on the fluffy pillow.

"I must sedate you and reopen the wound. I must make sure that no major arteries were injured," she replied as she took out a needle, flicked it, and then injected it into Gregor's forearm.

Gregor began to feel woozy not to long after she injected him. He had this funny feeling of staying awake just to watch her dig around in his body. But he couldn't keep his eyes open and he drifted into a drugged sleep from which he couldn't wake from for the next two hours.

Gregor woke up to find his wound wrapped tightly. He didn't feel any pain, and could surprisingly he could sit up. A nurse walked in with a clipboard in her hand and a pained look on her face. She looked up from what she was reading and smiled at Gregor.

"Hello, my name is Aurolet. I will be checking up on how your body works and I will take blood. Any objections?" she asked.

Gregor shook his head. Aurolet took out a clean needle and swabbed Gregor's arm then poked the needle into his skin. He cringed but didn't complain. She pulled the needle out and carefully put it on the table. Then she took out a stethoscope and put it in her ears and began to listen to her heart. She asked Gregor to count the seconds while she counted the beats. He told her when to stop listening after 10 seconds.

"Beautiful your heart sounds. Healthy and strong. The lungs sound wonderful also. Checking your nerves is the last thing I must do," Aurolet said.

Aurolet took out a small black object and had Gregor sit up. She hit under his knee and his leg jerked. She did this to his other knee and his elbows and the inside of the elbow. After she was done she gave Gregor his shirt back and reported the blood to another nurse.

"The nerves are great. You are able to leave now," she said as she walked back into the room.  
Gregor pulled his shirt back on and hopped off the bed. He thanked the doctor and headed out of the hospital. Gregor took out his schedule and looked over it. It said he was supposed to go to the dining room closest to Luxa's room. He shoved the paper back in his pocket and started to walk the direction of Luxa's room. Gregor wondered if they would have let Henry there to eat with them. Hopefully not. Gregor walked into the dining room, and sure enough Henry was sitting at the table. He was tied to the chair but with free use of his hands.

Henry smirked as Gregor took a seat as far as he could away from him, which was next to Ares. Ares had his ears back and his head down, not looking or speaking to anyone. Luxa was sitting as far as she could from Henry, whispering softly to Aurora. Hazard giggled with Thalia who was sitting next to Luxa and Aurora. Mareth sat on the other side of Ares. It seemed everyone favored the left side of the table. Vikus sat a few chairs down from Henry on the right side, but didn't dare sit right next to him. Howard was sitting next to Luxa with Nike and Pandora.

"It seems everyone is avoiding Henry," Ripred said as he waltzed into the room. "You act as if he is a rat, who wants to tear your face off."

"They don't have to act Ripred," Henry chuckled. "The only thing that is keeping me from doing so are these ropes."

Ripred sat next to Henry, his muzzle stuck in Henry's face. "If you so lay one fingernail on any of the people in this room, I will personally rip your throat out."

If there were any knives next to Henry, he would have surely stabbed Ripred. But he didn't dare touch him bare handed, he knew that Ripred didn't joke around like that. Instead Henry scowled and turned to face the people on the other side of the table.

"Mareth, lose of your leg, how did you do that?" Henry asked.

"Loyalty to my own kind. You would not understand," Mareth growled.

"Well you haven't a brain if you are loyal to them," Henry spat as he gestured to everyone around the table.

Luxa stabbed the table with a large butcher knife. "You haven't any room to speak! Becoming one with vermin! If only you had smashed into a thousand tiny pieces when you hurled into those rocks! If so you would not be here. There wouldn't be anything to bring back!" Luxa hissed.

"I wish I had taken your life when I could!" Henry shot back.

Luxa sat up and grabbed her butcher knife and hurled herself across the table. There was a flutter of wings as Aurora tried to stop her. Ripred jumped onto the table and whacked the knife out of her hand with his tail, and pushed her onto her back and pinned her down with his paw. Gregor could remember how vulnerable he felt when he was in that position.

"Will you please stop bickering? If you do not stop I will throw both of you out into the arena with a couple of swords so you can battle it out yourself!" Ripred hissed.

"I am sure Henry would not mind that," Ares muttered under his breath.

"Not another peep!"Ripred growled as he motioned the waiter in who had been standing in the doorway the whole time.

The waiter quietly walked over to the table with a large platter of food. She set it down, revealing greens, warm, freshly baked bread, some sort of mashed vegetable, what seemed to be a fruit salad, a large eyeless fish, and Ripred's favorite, shrimp in cream sauce. Ripred licked his chops as he stared at the shrimp in cream sauce. Gregor loaded up his plate with goods and poured himself a small bowl of shrimp in cream sauce, Ripred watching his hand the whole time he dished it. Henry purposefully dished himself a large bowl of shrimp in cream sauce, barely leaving any for the other people. Ripred scowled at him and hissed as he took the rest of the shrimp in cream sauce and greedily gulped it down.

Gregor ate slowly, watching everyone's robotic moves. What were they so afraid of? Henry, since he was tied up, he couldn't hurt anyone. Ares kept his head low as he ate a piece of fruit, not making eye contact with anyone, especially Henry.

"This group has never been so un-lively. What ever happened?" Henry asked.

"I am finished," Ares hissed as he scooted his chair back and it fell to the floor.

"Well, I guess that means we are all finished," Ripred said.

A large man walked in with a long piece of rope. He bound Henry's wrists together so he could not fight back, then he untied him from the chair and bound his ankles, and then he threw him over his shoulder.  
"I love being carried by a large man," Henry said sarcastically.

Gregor got up from his chair and walked out of the dining room. He walked towards Luxa's room where he found Ares sitting on her couch alone. Gregor walked over to the couch and sat next to Ares. Ares looked away and fluttered his wings.

"Ares, talk to me. I need to know what's wrong," Gregor pleaded.

"It is Henry. He gets on my nerves. I wish he had not come back," Ares muttered.  
"Yeah, I wish he hadn't come back either. But I guess it is just something we will have to adjust to. I'm sure he won't be here long," Gregor replied.

"I know. I plan to kill him myself," Ares growled.  
Gregor didn't know what to say to that. Ares had done it before; he let Henry fall to his death. But he hadn't actually shed his blood himself. Can he do it? Gregor was sure he could. Henry had done the worst thing you can ever do to a bond.

"It is late. I must rest," Ares said as he stood up from the couch and shook his wings.

"Same here, I will just sleep in the guest room," Gregor said as he walked into the guest room.

Gregor found Boots lying on the extra bed with Hazard and Thalia lying buy her. Hazard must have left early, though Gregor hadn't seen him leave from the dining hall. Gregor climbed into his bed and pulled the covers over him. He soon fell asleep into a dreamless sleep.

Gregor was shaken awake by Luxa. "We must meet in the dining room to eat," she told him.

Gregor yawned and stretched out his arms. He lazily threw his legs off of the bed and stood up. Luxa pointed to a pile of clean clothes sitting on the end of the bed and then walked out of the room as she closed the curtain. Gregor removed his dirty clothes and pulled on the clean ones. When he was finished he met up with Luxa and they walked to the dining room. Gregor sat down next to Ares again. The table looked the same as it did the night before; everyone was in the same place.

"Now, so I can actually enjoy my meal, please keep your traps shut and chew your food," Ripred commanded.  
A waiter came out with greens, fruits, bread, and meat soup. Ripred seemed displeased that they didn't bring out his favorite meal. Gregor was about to dish himself a plate when a frantic woman ran into the room screaming "Rat! There is a rat in the building!"

"Somebody might want to tell her that I'm the good guy," Ripred laughed.

"This is serious Ripred! Where was it last seen?" Luxa asked.

"In the High Hall! No one is sure how it got up here," the woman said and she ran out of the room.

The group left Henry tied to his chair and ran down to the High Hall. There were a few guards trying to stab something in the middle of the High Hall. Gregor reached for his sword which was not in its hilt.

"Of course you forget your sword boy!" Ripred said.

Ripred pushed the group back and walked into the bustle. He knocked the swords out of the guards' hands and hissed them back from what was being attacked. There was whispering for a few minutes, then bickering.

Ripred looked back at the group. "It is nothing but a little Twitchtip."


	13. Chapter 12

**You Guys Ready For Some Romance Next Chapter **( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

Twitchtip hissed and flicker her tail. Soon a crowd formed, wanting to see what the ruckus was about. Twitchtip tried to jump over the crowd but Ripred flung her onto the ground with a blow from his tail.

"You will just scare them! Keep calm" Ripred hissed.

"How am I to keep calm? They smell hideous!" Twitchtip hissed back.

"There is nothing to see here. If you don't move I will chop your heads off with my tail, now go on!" Ripred growled at the crowd.

"Now, what did you need, since you scared the whole town," Ripred asked as the people began to move back into their rooms, and the places they came from.

"Well I have two things to tell you. One is bad, one is good. Which one would you like?" Twitchtip mumbled.

"Well both. But tell me the bad news first," Ripred replied.

"I saw the Bane. He is in the Fire Lands. He is trying to make an army; it does not seem to be working. Knowing him he will scare the other rats into it," Twitchtip answered.

Ripred shook his head. "No…this cannot happen. Well Gregor, load your bat, sharpen your sword, we have plans."

"The good news…well I think it is. Your pup, Silksharp, was found in the Dead Lands," Twitchtip said.

Ripred looked astonished. "What? Why didn't you get him!?"

"Well…there is more bad news….the Bane..has him hostage," Twitchtip replied.

"I'll kill him! I will rip his heart out and shove it down his throat! Then grab it again as it digests!" Ripred yelled as he began to pace.

"Ripred, calm your nerves," Mareth said as he tried to calm Ripred.

"Calm my nerves?! When my pup has come back and is now in the care of a beast?! Do not tell me to calm my nerves!" Ripred growled. "We need to make a plan. We need to set out and save him!"

"Now do not get ahead of yourself. You know we cannot make plans that easily, none of us are ready," Mareth replied.

"Then ready yourselves! Train and pack! Do whatever you can to get ready!" Ripred replied.

Mareth whispered to an Underland woman and she hurried away. "There, now we will get ready," Mareth said.

"What did you say?" Ripred asked.

"To ask of others to pack baskets of food, water, swords, and to ask if the arena is available," Mareth told. "We do not know how many bats we will need to take. What do you think?"

"Well…we will obviously need that dumb sling again. The boy will have to come and his bond. Maybe his little pest of a sister. Luxa and her bond. My question is, what will we do with Henry?" Ripred asked.

"I suppose we have to bring him with us. He cannot stay here, he needs us to watch him," Mareth replied.

"Well, then we will have to bring the bat he rode upon here," Ripred said.

"We are bringing him? Why?" Luxa asked.

"Like I said, no one here can watch him. We found him, we are responsible. And if he comes, maybe he will die out there so we don't have to kill him," Ripred mocked.

"Well, since it is early, we might as well train," Mareth stated.

The woman who Mareth whispered in the ear hurried back and told him the arena was open. "Well that settles it, get your weapons and bonds and hurry to the arena," Mareth said.

Gregor walked back to Luxa's room. He walked through the doorway and into his room and grabbed his sword and belt. Gregor wrapped the belt around his waist and placed the sword in its sheath. He hurried back to the High Hall where Ares was waiting for him. Gregor mounted Ares and was about to take off when a woman hurried over to Ares with Boots next to her.

"Mareth asked of me to report Boots to you," the woman said.

"Thanks. What's it for?" Gregor asked.

"He asked of her to train with you," the woman replied.

Boots got onto Ares' back in front of Gregor. He thanked the woman and flew off towards the arena. Gregor ran his hand through Ares' glossy black fur, remembering each time he did that before Ares had died. Ares landed in the arena and Gregor and Boots slid off of his back. Gregor and Boots walked over to Mareth who was talking to his bond.

"So what are we going to be training in?" Gregor asked.

"Flying of course. Ares and yourself have not flown together in a long time. Also fighting enemies, you need more training with your sword. You will also train in stealth, you never know when you will need it," Mareth replied.

"Well, just tell me what to do then," Gregor said as he remounted Ares.

"First you will silently fly up and destroy the dummies. Watch out for the ropes attached to them. Make sure to work with Ares as one, and your sword is part of you, not a tool. Then I will show you some twists to perform to get out of tight places," Mareth instructed.

Gregor laid his hand on the hilt of his sword and Ares propelled off of the mossy ground. Ares' silent wings carried the both of them towards the first target. Gregor pulled his sword from its sheath and the rager sensation set in. Gregor's vision first blurred then grew stronger. He blocked out all sounds, though he could barely hear any as it is, Ares was so silent. Gregor slashed the dummy's head off and the body fell to the ground. Ares flew to the next dummy and Gregor stabbed it through the heart and the sand poured out. Ares flew to the other dummy, but his wing caught on the rope that hung the dummies. A bone cracked in Ares' wing and he screeched as he hurtled towards the ground. Gregor hurled himself off of Ares' back at an attempt not to stab him. He then threw his sword to the side as he to fell towards the ground. Andromeda flew up and Gregor landed on her back face first, hurting his nose. Ares plummeted to the ground; there was nothing anyone could do to help him. He crashed into the moss and slid to a stop in front of Mareth who rushed to his side. Andromeda landed near Ares and Gregor launched off of her back and ran to Ares' side.

"Ares! Ares are you alright!" Gregor cried.

"He is obviously not alright boy! He just fell from two hundred feet up and landed on the hard ground!" Ripred yelled.

"The both of you stop yelling! You are not making it better! He is unconscious but he is alright. He has a broken wing and probably a cracked skull. He needs to be rushed to the hospital," Mareth told. "Andromeda, fly to the High Hall and tell them we need large fliers to transport Ares back."

Andromeda nodded and then flew off to the High Hall. In less than two minutes four large bats flew into the arena and landed next to Ares. A large harness was at the end of eight loops. Two for each bat's foot to hold onto. Mareth took the harness and adjusted it around Ares' body and under his wings.

"Make sure to not bump his head," Mareth instructed as each bat took a loop and lifted to the air.

"Are you sure he will be alright?" Gregor asked nervously.

"I am sure, do not worry. The doctors will take care of him, those injuries I am sure have happened before. Now, fly upon Andromeda back to the palace. You may not visit Ares until you have read over the prophecy," Mareth said.

Andromeda fluttered over to Gregor and he mounted her and waited for Boots. Boots ran over to Gregor and he helped her onto Andromeda.

"Gregor, the big rat told me you need to meet the little rat," Boots told Gregor.

"You mean Twitchtip?" Gregor asked.  
Boots nodded. "But only after you study."

"Okay, I will make sure I study before," Gregor laughed.

Andromeda flew into the air and took off towards the palace. They were there in no time and Gregor went straight to the prophecy room. He found Twitchtip there, looking over the prophecy. She had turned over the table so she could read the prophecy without going under it. She turned towards Gregor and stood up.

"What do you think of it?" Gregor asked.

"It is…quite amazing. Amazing how so many can come back, though we do not know who they may be," Twitchtip replied.

"Yeah. I really do understand it all. I'm not sure why I have to look over it again. I rather just talk to you, which you needed to talk to me right?" Gregor asked.

"Well….I just wanted someone so I didn't feel so lonely. And you are the only one who truly understands me," Twitchtip told.

"There is one thing that I have always wanted to know," Gregor said.

"And what is that?" Twitchtip asked.

"When did you figure out your 'gift'?" Gregor asked.

"I learned it when my mother was with me. I was lying in my nest and my mother was cleaning. I asked her if she had ever left her earlier pups. She asked me how I knew that," Twitchtip began. "I told her I could smell her biggest secret. She had left her first litter for there was no food and she could not bear to eat them."

"Oh, well how did she feel about it?" Gregor asked.

"She thought it was amazing. She told everyone. Some thought of me as a freak, some thought I was a gift," Twitchtip started. "I...still do not know which to believe."

Gregor scooted closer to Twitchtip."You are not a freak. I wish I could do that! I mean, with being a rager who can see in the dark and that put on top, I think that would be awesome," Gregor indicated. "I think you are amazing."

The rat smiled faintly. "It is not all fun. I do not want to know others secrets...only my own."


	14. Chapter 13

( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) Are You Ready For Gluxa?

The next thing Gregor knew he was being shaken awake by Luxa. "You are needed in the hospital. Ares is in need of you," she said.

"Ok, but when do we leave?" Gregor asked as he rubbed his eyes.

"When Ares' wing is fully healed," Luxa replied.

"Okay. Well, thanks I guess. I'll be leaving now," Gregor said awkwardly.

Gregor began to walk towards the doorway. "Gregor, wait." Luxa said.

"Wha- " Gregor started, but before he could get the word out Luxa took his face in her hands and kissed him.

They broke apart and Gregor was as red as a crisp fall leaf. "Uh…thanks.." Gregor stuttered.

"Stupid! Idiot!" Gregor muttered to himself as he rushed out of the room before he could say anything else that would make him look or feel like an idiot.

Gregor started walking towards the hospital, thinking of all the stupid things he had done or said to Luxa in the past. He almost ran into a doctor who was carrying a large needle in his hand.  
"Sorry," Gregor apologized as he moved out of the doctor's way.

Gregor walked over to a sheet of paper on the wall that said where the patients were being held. Ares was being held in stall 6. Gregor walked along, looking up, searching for the number 6. He found it and walked in to find Ares sitting up on his bed. Ares looked weak, with his wing in an awkward sling.

"Luxa said you needed me?" Gregor choked out.

"She is correct. You must go on without me. Ripred won't wait another minute to find his pup," Ares told.

"Ripred can wait, I need you Ares. I need to fly with you again," Gregor replied.

"The doctor reported it shall be at least two more days that it is fully healed. He has me on medicine to make the healing process go by faster," Ares answered.

"Good. I just want to get this over with," Gregor said.

"I do to. Though having it over means others die," Ares said softly.

"I know. But we will try our best to keep our loved ones alive," Gregor added.

"Gregor, you are wanted in the feast room," a nurse said.

"Oh, okay. Thank you," Gregor replied. "Well, I have to go Ares."

"Yes, goodbye." Ares replied.

Gregor walked out of the hospital and towards the feast room. Hoping Luxa wouldn't be there. Gregor walked into the room, and Luxa was there of course. He looked down at his feet as he crossed the room to his seat. Gregor sat next to Ripred, feeling alone without Ares next to him.

"What's wrong with you boy?" Ripred asked.

"Nothing," Gregor muttered sheepishly.

Ripred glanced over at Luxa and back at Gregor. "Is she mad at you?" Ripred whispered.

"No, more like the opposite," Gregor replied.

"Ah-huh, I see." Ripred said slyly.

"The doctor said it will be two more days until Ares' wing is fully healed," Gregor blurted.

Ripred glared at him, "We must go now. We must leave today. My pups' life is at stake!"

"Ripred, you needeth not go today. It can wait a couple of days. Your pup will be fine," Vikus said. "You know you cannot go without us."

Ripred shut his trap and twirled his claw in his soup. "Normally I wouldn't be so dull…..what is wrong with me? Why am I not enjoying the soup I love so dearly?"

"Because something you love even more is not here with you, enjoying the moment as well," Luxa mentioned.

Gregor moved his food around his plate with his fork. He wished that they could just leave today, and Ares be healed. He didn't want to disappoint Ripred any further. Gregor took a bite of meat and slowly chewed it, though it was really quite delicious he didn't seem to taste it. He only had a metallic taste in his mouth.

"What are we doing today?" Gregor asked.

"I suggested a picnic. Just you and I," Luxa said.

Gregor's face turned a bright red and he looked down at his plate so no one would see. Did Luxa really want to be alone with him? No…they couldn't be alone, Aurora would be there. Unless she has something planned for Aurora.

"No running of though, do you understand?" Mareth asked in a harsh tone.

"We understand. Aurora has to check in with the doctor, her wing has been hurting that she displaced a while ago. We wouldn't be able to get far without her. We will only be in the fields," Luxa told.

"I will proceed on making you a lunch sack," a waitress said who was standing in the back of the room.

"I'm done here. I am going to go wash up," Gregor said as he got up from the table.

Really all he wanted was peace and quiet. He wanted to write a letter to his mother, telling her how well he was and what quest he was going to go on this time. Gregor walked back to Luxa's room. He began to look for a scroll and found one in an old stone desk. There was a quill and ink on top of the desk. He sat on the chair that was in front of the desk.

Dear mom and Dad,  
I am doing well here. There hasn't been any sort of danger. There was a new prophecy found. We weren't going to take the voyage for a while, but Ripred's pup was found here in the Underland, and he has to find it before it dies. Please don't come down here, you will only worsen things.  
I love you,  
Gregor.

Gregor curled the scroll back up and walked out of the room. He found a guard outside of the room and asked him if he could make sure that the letter made it up to the laundry room. The guard nodded and told him he would see what he could do. Gregor found Luxa slinging a pack over her shoulder.

"Are you ready?" she asked.

"Yeah," Gregor replied.

"A bat will take us down. We must be back within the hour, we have more training," Luxa stated.

"Okay, well lets go then," Gregor replied as he started down the hall towards the High Hall.

A smoky colored bat sat in the middle of the High Hall. Luxa said a few words with the bat and she mounted. Gregor sat behind her, wishing that the bat under him was Ares. The bat flew off from the High Hall and over the fields. It took less than two minutes to fly to the fields. The bat landed softly and waited for his cargo to dismount; when they had he took off for the palace.

Luxa sat down in the middle of the field, cows surrounding her. Gregor sat by her and helped her open her pack. The sack held a roll of meat and bread and cheese. Gregor began to slice the bread while Luxa did the cheese and meat.

"Have you ever tried to ride any of these cows?" Gregor asked between bites.

"No. Absolutely not, that is absurd. Do people ride cows in the Overland?" Luxa asked.

"Well not cows, but an animal called a horse. They are like cows, just without the horns, utters, and they are much taller. And they have a mane and a hairy tail, not like a cows tail," Gregor replied.

"Have you ever tried riding a cow?" Luxa asked.

"Yeah, back on my old farm I did. We had to have someone tie the cows' horns and lead it though," Gregor told.

Luxa took Gregor's face in her hands and kissed him and didn't let go. It wasn't a normal kiss, this one was different, she added her tongue to it. Gregor wrapped his arms around her and rolled her over into the plants. The plants were so long no one could see them; they could do whatever they wanted. Gregor began to slide his hand under her shirt but stopped at the sound of wings. They broke apart and began to fix their hair like nothing happened. Gregor shoved a sandwich in his mouth, as did Luxa.

Mareth sat upon Andromeda. "We are leaving right now, you must hurry."

"Wait, I thought Ares' wing wasn't fully recovered? We still have two more days," Luxa stammered.

"Plans have been changed. The doctors say Ares can fly, just not very far and without much weight," Mareth replied. "Mount Andromeda. All of the fliers are in the High Hall packed up and ready to fly."  
Luxa mounted Andromeda and Gregor sat behind. The bat flew up and sped towards the High Hall. She landed near the other fliers and Luxa and Gregor dismounted.  
The fliers already had their packs, even Ripred was fully strapped.

"They work fast," Gregor muttered.

Gregor found Ares and mounted him. "Why are we leaving so early?" Gregor asked.

"They say the Bane has moved farther into the Fire Lands with Ripred's pup. We must leave as soon as possible if we are to find the pup alive," Ares replied.

After a brief discussion of why they were leaving so soon, Vikus waved his hand, signaling the fliers to take flight. Ares remained on the floor while Boots and Temp mounted; after they were secure he rose into the air and went into his place in formation.

Andromeda was the first to take off. The other fliers followed her out over the city.

The fliers flew for a while, crossing cracked earth, rivers, creeks, and oceans. They stopped in a cave. Not because the fliers were tired, but because of the thick, black, choking smoke that lay in a large cloud ahead of them.


	15. Chapter 14

**Sorry For The Wait Guys, I've Been Really Busy Lately**

"How are we to travel through that?" Luxa asked Mareth as she dismounted Aurora and began to help Ripred out of his straps.

"Wait until it clears. If it doesn't, then we must go on. Make sure to keep your face in the fliers fur, the fliers are stronger than we are, they won't get sick," Mareth told.

"How long will we wait?" Gregor asked.

"We will eat, then leave," Mareth replied.

Mareth began to unstrap the food basket from one of the bats. He rummaged around the basket for a few minutes before pulling out a rack of ribs. "From our cows," Mareth muttered as he served the ribs to everyone. A few fliers were told to find themselves fish, but to make sure to stay out of the smoke.

Gregor looked down at the ribs that he had been given. They were small, with very little meat. The cows that the Underlanders owned were very skinny without much meat on their bones, the lack of grass made them smaller than the cows in the Overland. Gregor took a bite out of his ribs. Though they were small and hadn't much meat, the taste was glorious.

"Wow, these are great!"Gregor exclaimed.

"Made by the greatest," Mareth said.

The few bats that left came back heaving. They had few fish, and the fish they had were small and boney. "The smoke, is too much," Zinx cried out between coughs.

"How are we to get through the smoke?" Luxa asked.

"I have an idea," Gregor said as he opened a basket that held first aid items. He took out a slim piece of rope and a roll of bandages made from spider silk. He looked for a knife in the food basket and used it to cute the fabric into a small square. He then poked holes on both sides of the fabric and rand the rope through one of the holes and tied it.

"Maybe this will work," he said as he put it over Ares' muzzle and tied the other end of the rope through the second hole. "Can you still breathe?"

"Yes, perfectly," Ares muffled through the fabric.

"This will make it to where the dirty air doesn't get through the fabric, it filters the smoke and makes clean are for Ares," Gregor explained. "We should make one for everyone."

"Indeed, if it works well we may leave right away," Mareth pointed out as he looked for another roll of spider silk, rope, and a knife. "Howard, Luxa, help make…these things for the fliers first."

Luxa moved over with Gregor to share his roll of silk and Howard went with Mareth. Gregor began to make a mask for Zinx, he made a new thing for it, a thing that goes around one ear so it wouldn't fall off.

"Hey, make the rope go around one of the flier's ears so the mask won't fall off," Gregor said.

When he finished Zinx's mask he began to work on Ares' mask, adding the ear part. When the masks for the fliers were finished Howard and Mareth began to make masks for the humans, and Gregor made one for Ripred.

Gregor went over to Ripred and put the fabric over  
Ripred's muzzle.

"I probably look like a complete idiot," Ripred grumbled.

"Try not to talk," Gregor chuckled.

Gregor finished the part of the rope that went behind the ear and ties through the second hole, then he added the part around the ear. "How does that feel?" Gregor asked.

"You really want to know?" Ripred asked.

"Not really," Gregor replied.

"Are we ready?" Luxa asked.

"Indeed, mount the fliers and put Ripred back in his restraints," Mareth ordered.

Ripred rolled his eyes as Howard helped him into the straps. Gregor mounted Ares, as did Temp and Boots. When everyone was ready Mareth and Andromeda took off out of the cave. Ares followed close behind, right into the cloud of smoke.

They flew into a large, long cave. The smoke soon died as they flew farther down the cave. Water dribbled off the walls of the cave, making an eerie dripping sound on the cold cave floor. The floor began to slant down and the air got colder.

"We must land!" Mareth called out.

The group landed on the cold ground. Gregor dismounted and helped Ares take off his mask, and then he took off his own and shoved both of them in his back pocket. "Where does this tunnel lead?" Gregor asked.  
"To the stingers cave. We must stay quiet, we mustn't disturb them," he replied.

"How far is it from the Bane do you think?" Gregor asked.

"Not too far, we will have a few bats scout ahead, to see if they can spot him," Mareth told.

Mareth went over and talked to Zues and Zorro, the biggest of the fliers, not including Ares. Zues and Zorro nodded their heads to whatever Mareth had said, still wearing their masks they took off down the tunnel.

"They will be safe right?" Gregor asked.

"Yes, they will be fine," Mareth replied as he got food out of a basket.

Gregor unlatched a water sack from the harness that held the water sacks. He unscrewed the lid and gulped down half of it. He let Boots drink the rest and got a water sack for Ares and Temp to drink. He opened the water sack and held it over Ares' open mouth. Ares nodded his head after two gulps, signaling he had enough. Gregor then let Temp take a drink.

"We all need to keep hydrated, do as Gregor is doing, Luxa, Howard, help the fliers and Ripred get a drink," Mareth instructed.

Gregor leaned back against Ares' stomach. Enjoying the feeling of the bats soft fur against the back of his neck. Ares wrapped his wings around Gregor and laid his head down on Gregor's. Gregor fell asleep like that, from the soothing feeling of Ares' heavy breathing, and Boots' warm body pressed up against his.

Gregor awoke when the two fliers returned. They flew over to Mareth and began to converse with him. By the looks of Mareth's reaction, the news wasn't good. Gregor sat up from his slumber and wandered over to Mareth.

"Whats going on?" Gregor asked.

"They saw a group of gnawers heading deeper into the Fire Lands. When they flew over the stingers, they were deeply sleeping, but they were large, their stingers are more than three feet long," Mareth replied. "We must leave after a good sleep."

Gregor nodded and went back to Ares who had nodded off a while ago. Gregor leaned back against Ares and looked into the dark. He clicked a few times but nothing came back to him. He wondered if Hazard could teach him to speak flier. Did Hazard even come with them? Gregor looked over at Luxa who was sleeping, in the dim torch light he saw Hazard curled up with Luxa. Gregor didn't even remember seeing him come on the trip. He didn't even think he was allowed to come.

Gregor shifted to a position that was comfortable. He noticed Boots was hogging all of the blankets, so he asked Ares to wrap his wings around him, and in the middle of Ares' slumber he did so. Gregor soon fell asleep. When he woke up the group was getting ready to leave. Ares had gotten up, somehow not waking Gregor at all. Gregor yawned and rubbed his eyes. He got up and walked over to Mareth who handed him a piece of bread and dried fruit. Gregor ate them slowly, until Mareth instructed the group to mount up.

Gregor put Ares' mask on and his own mask on. Temp didn't need one, but he helped Boots put hers on. Gregor mounted Ares and Boots crawled on behind him and began to talk in cockroach with Temp. After Ripred was strapped in his seat, the group began to lift up and fly.

They flew down the tunnel for an hour or so. Mareth began to fly ahead of the group at a high speed. The group headed towards a hole in the wall that Mareth had gone through. The hole opened into a large cavern. There was a large body of dirty water in the middle, and resting on the rocks were three very large scorpions, their stingers high above their heads, ready to strike at anything that wasn't supposed to be there.


	16. Chapter 15

**Thank you everyone for all the reviews! So sorry about not posting, I've been really busy lately hope this makes up for it!**

The fliers flew up near the ceiling of the cavern so they wouldn't get stung. The stingers were sitting right in front of the entry to where the Bane was last seen. How were they to get through them?  
Ripred dangled at the end of the flier's harnesses, only a few feet away from the poised stinger of a giant scorpion. He glanced anxiously up at Gregor, but didn't say a word, knowing his voice would be shaky.

"What are we to do?" Luxa called to Mareth.

"There isn't a way to get through them, we must negotiate!" Mareth replied.

A few clicks were exchanged between the scorpions. What were they saying? One twitched its tail and Ripred wrapped his paws around his harness, trying to get as far away from them as possible. Everyone was shouting things to each other and Gregor couldn't keep his mind straight.

"Temp speaks to stingers, yes?" Temp asked from behind Gregor.

"Wait, you can talk to them?" Gregor asked.

"Try, yes, try I can," Temp replied.

"Hey, Mareth!" Gregor called to Mareth who was yelling across to Howard.

"Why don't we feed Henry to them!" Ripred yelled up to the group.

Henry? Gregor totally forgot Henry had come with them because Mareth didn't want him alone in the palace. Gregor looked over at Mace who had Henry on his back. Henry looked startled; he knew that the group would be willing to feed him to the scorpions if they had to.

"No! Temp can speak to them!" Gregor called out.

Mareth looked over to Temp, "Can you?"

"Yes, try I can." Temp replied.

"Then start trying," Mareth said.

Temp let out a high pitched squeal just as the first scorpion had poised its tail to hit Ripred. It glanced up at Temp and clicked back. The two scorpions and Temp clicked and squeaked to each other for a few minutes, and then Temp turned to Gregor.

"We can pass, yes. Yes them startled, startled yes." Temp said.

"They said we can pass! But they are startled so we might want to be careful!" Gregor yelled to Mareth.  
Mareth looked down at the two scorpions; they were clicking to each other. Mareth nodded his head and he and Andromeda slowly descended, staying clear of the large stingers. They flew into a large tunnel that was behind the scorpions. The rest of the group flew into the tunnel. Ripred passed the scorpions and they flicked their tails at him. Ripred jumped and a hm-hm-hm sounds came from the scorpions. Ripred hissed at them as he went into the tunnel.

The tunnel had high walls and a high ceiling so the fliers could fly easily. The group flew through the tunnel until it ended into a large, smoky cavern. Mareth called the group down to dismount. Ares landed and Gregor got off and went to help Ripred out of his harness. As he walked, ash flew up into his face, but didn't get through his mask of bandage wrap.

Gregor unclipped Ripred from his harness and Ripred hopped down, then Luxa helped the two fliers out of their harnesses. Ripred shook off some ash that had fallen on his shoulder. "Isn't this place just fantastic," he said sarcastically. "Now, where would a party of rats take a pup?"

"We must eat before we move again Ripred," Mareth told.

"Well, right after, we find my pup," Ripred hissed.  
Mareth and Howard unstrapped all of the fliers as Gregor and Luxa made the food. Ripred paced in front of the opening to the cavern, flicking his tail and scratching his chin, and muttering to himself. Gregor finished his last sandwich and let Boots pass them out, but she passed Henry because he scared her. Ripred began to dig around in the food basket looking for any shrimp in cream sauce.

"Ripred, I made you a sandwich, you don't have to eat all the cream sauce," Gregor said as he handed Ripred two sandwiches.

Ripred glared at him and snatched the sandwiches out of his hand, then popped both of them in his mouth. "I wasn't going to eat all of it."

Gregor sat down next to Ares and ate his sandwich. Henry was across the tunnel leaning up against the wall, glaring at the two of them. Ares pinned his ears back against his head and hissed at Henry, then sat in front of Gregor, his back facing Henry. Henry let out an eerie chuckle.

"You can't let him get to you Ares," Gregor said.  
"I'm not, I just hate him. I want to kill him," Ares muttered.

"Well, maybe you'll get the chance. But right now we need him, he would make good bait, though it sounds kind of harsh," Gregor replied.

"I could care less," Ares said under his breath.  
Ares and the other fliers perked their ears up and their heads jolted to the entry of the tunnel. Smoke puffed through the entry and a loud screech rang through the air. Ripred moved towards the entry, on all fours with one paw up, sniffing the air, looking quite like a hound dog.

"It….smells like a flier. But I can't be sure, the ash is too heavy," Ripred said.

Just then a large body flopped into the tunnel, making Ripred jump back and run into Henry. The thing was covered in soot; no one could tell what it was. It coughed and a pile of ash lifted into the air. Howard moved towards it and rubbed the ash from its face. Small black eyes peered back, it was a flier.

"Get some water sacks!" Howard yelled.

Gregor ran to the harness holding the water sacks and got three of them. He rushed over to Howard who took the sack and poured water into the flier's mouth, then used the extra water to wash off its face. Underneath the soot lay a beautiful light cream orange colored coat with white markings above the eyes and going from the nose back to the cheeks. There was something different about the flier, its ears were much smaller and its nose much longer than the other fliers.

"It's a fox bat; I did a report on them in third grade. They are much larger than other bats, and really rare," Gregor said.  
It was true, after Howard had brushed the soot off of the bats back they could see how big it really was. It was at least a foot longer than Ares, and its wing span was at least three feet bigger than Ares', but it was thin and lanky, not muscular like Ares.

"Why are you here, and who be you?" Mareth asked.

"I am Doroto, flier prince. I know where he is," the bat choked out.

"Where who is?" Mareth questioned.

"Him….the person," Doroto muttered.

"An Underlander? Who may it be?" Mareth urged.

"No, an Overlander…."


	17. Chapter 16

**It's been a loooooong time hasn't it? I am so sorry. Hopefully this makes up for the wait**

"Overlander? How can it be?" Mareth mutterded.

"No…it can't be my family. It just can't be," Gregor said, with a tinge of worry in his voice.

"No….it is not. I have heard of your family, one of them it is not," Doroto coughed out.

"Who could it be?" Gregor asked.

"I am sure of it not. Can you lead us there?" Mareth asked.

"Yes, but I am very weak," Doroto said.

"Here, eat this," Luxa told as she gave Doroto a piece of bread.

Doroto thankfully took the bread and ate it slowly. He had a tough time swallowing the dry bread so Gregor gave him some water to wash it down easier. When Doroto was done, Mareth and Howard helped prop him up against the rock wall. Doroto looked around the tunnel and at the group. He shifted his weight and let out a shrill shriek.

"Are you hurt?" Howard asked as he ran over with a first aid kit.

"Yes, it may be my leg," Doroto said with a sigh.

Howard looked at both of Doroto's legs and picked out one that seemed out of the ordinary. He told Doroto is looked swollen and it was most likely broken. Howard rummaged through the first aid kit and picked out a bottle of pills and a roll of spider silk and a splint. Howard took Doroto's left leg and placed the splint under it and used the roll of spider silk to keep the splint in place, and then he took two pills and had Doroto swallow them with water.

Doroto soon fell asleep. There was nothing the group could do but fall asleep also, they couldn't travel with a crippled flier. Boots curled up with Gregor but was restless; she had gotten too much sleep the night before to sleep again. Gregor sat up and told Boots to go play with Hazard, quietly. Boots got up and walked over to Hazard and began to talk in a mix of crawler and human. Gregor soon fell asleep. He hadn't gotten much sleep from Boots kicking him and stealing his blankets.

Gregor woke up from the sound of Ripred and Mareth arguing. They were bickering about how Ripred wanted to find his pup as soon as possible but this flier would keep them from getting to it as soon as they could. Gregor got up and walked over to Mareth and Ripred.

"Ripred, we cannot go until Doroto feels well. It will take no longer than a few days," Mareth said, trying to convince Ripred to stay with the group.

"You are thinking of leaving?" Gregor asked.

"Yes boy, I cannot wait while my pup is out there with savages. They might get hungry!" Ripred hissed.

"We need you Ripred, you can't go on your own. What if they find you?" Gregor said.

"I can handle them, boy. I may need a few things though," Ripred replied as he began to rummage in the food basket.

Ripred pulled out a small box of cookies. He pulled the lid off with his teeth and put a sack of cream and shrimp sauce, and then he took two water sacks. "Help me over here, boy." Ripred said with his harness in his teeth. Gregor trudged over to Ripred and put the harness on him. Ripred told him to fix the two sacks onto the front of his harness so he could easily get to them. Gregor took the water sacks and clipped with onto the harness and handed Ripred his box of food.

"How are you to open those water sacks?" Luxa asked as she put her hands on her hips.

Ripred looked down at the sacks with a confused look on his face. "I will have to bite the caps off," he muttered.

"How will we find you again?" Gregor asked.

"I will find you. This old nose knows your scent by now," Ripred chuckled.

Ripred adjusted his harness and said his farewells, and then he walked out of the tunnel opening and onto the ash covered ground. Mareth shook his head and muttered something under his breath. Howard walked over to Doroto to check his leg and to see how he was feeling.

"I hope he stays safe," Gregor said.

"He will be fine, Gregor. That old rat knows what he is doing," Luxa said, then she gave Gregor a kiss on his cheek.

Gregor was starting to get used to his and Luxa's little relationship. Howard came over and told Mareth how Doroto was doing. He told him that Doroto said he could fly, but if he got tired from the pain pills he would have to be carried, which Ares volunteered himself to do the job.

"Ha, of course Ares steps up to the plate. What a little hero," Henry laughed from the back of the tunnel.

Ares got up in Henry's face, his ears pinned to his head. "Do you not understand how easily I could take your light?" Ares hissed.

"Try me…" Henry said, as he glared at Ares.

"Ares, we need him," Gregor said as he put his hand on Ares' chest.

"For what?" Ares spat.

"Well, we could always use him for bait," Gregor said as he shrugged his shoulders.

"You are beginning to speak like Ripred," Ares said.

"Yeah, well Ripred always brings life to the party. Maybe I should do it more often," Gregor replied.

"Maybe you should try it, Ares," Henry laughed.

"You, shut up," Gregor demanded, pointing at Henry.

"Must we fly out now?" Howard asked.

"Yes, pack up and then mount," Mareth ordered.

Gregor picked up a sleeping Boots and mounted Ares. Temp crawled up behind Gregor. Luxa helped pack up the baskets. When they were finished everyone mounted and flew out of the tunnel with Doroto leading the way. Doroto went through a twist of tunnels. If anyone wanted to turn back they were out of luck. Gregor clicked; under him was a small river of dirty, black water.

The group began to fly towards the ground. Doroto looked like he was having a hard time breathing. They had forgotten to make him a mask. But they hadn't worn any themselves because they didn't think their destination was far. Ares landed and Gregor walked over to Mareth and Howard who were talking to Doroto.

"Please, just go on. It is not much farther from here. Go through the opening and they will be there," Doroto coughed out.

"Here, take this," Gregor said as he put a mask over Doroto's face.

Howard opened a water sack and let Doroto take a long drink. Mareth told him they would soon be back and that if he needed anything he should just fly to him. Then Mareth told the other fliers to stay and take care of Doroto and to protect each other, if what Doroto said was true they didn't need to travel far to the mysterious being.

Gregor helped put a mask on everyone who needed one. He put a mask on and followed Mareth out of the tunnel. Dust rose from the ground and covered Gregor's clothes, he felt like a coal miner. The sound of something scratching on rock filled their ears. Mareth held out his hand, stopping the group in their tracks. Temp wiggled his antennae.

"Be it human, be it?" Temp asked.

"Is it?" Gregor asked.

"Yes, be it human be it?" Temp replied.

Mareth began towards another tunnel opening where a light showed through onto the dusty ground. There sat a figure draped in old, torn clothing, using a sharp tool to scratch into the rock wall. Sitting near him was a dust covered gnawer pup.

"Who be you?" Mareth called out.

The figure didn't reply so Mareth tried again.

"Who be it?" Mareth muttered.

Gregor's mind raced. And an image from a dream popped into his head. He then muttered "Sanwhich…."


	18. Chapter 17

**I am not sure where to go with this story, if you could pm me any suggestions that would be a big help**

"You mean thee Sandwich?" Luxa asked in astonishment.

"Well yeah. Why don't we go ask?" Gregor replied.

Gregor and the group slowly walked over to the old man hunched over writing on the wall with a rock. It seemed as if he was writing a prophecy. Mareth touched the old man's shoulder, which made the man jump. The man jumped up and pointed at Mareth.

"Who are you?" the man asked, his finger still pointed at Mareth.

"I be the one called Mareth. Who are you?" Mareth asked.

"Uhm..I-I don't recall," the man said, very confused.

"Could it be Sandwich?" Gregor asked.

The man's face lit up, "Yes! Yes that is my name! How do you know?" he asked.

"Well down here you are famous," Gregor replied.

"Am I in the Underland?" Sandwich asked.

"Yes, you are in the Firelands in the Underland," Mareth told.

"Firelands? What the hell am I doing here?" Sandwich asked.

"That we aren't for certain, you could help us maybe?" Mareth said.

"In what way?" Sandwich replied.

"Tell us where you have come from. How did you end up here?" Mareth asked.

"Well, first thing I know is I saw a whole bunch of rats….or gnawers right? I ran from them, but I am sure they got a taste of my scent. I ended up here, unsure of where to go…I found this rock…and started etching into the wall…." Sandwich answered.

"Who be the pup who hangs by your cloak?" Howard asked.

"Oh this, I'm not sure. I haven't caught his name," Sandwich replied. "I picked him up, found him in the ash. I fed him some bugs I found…they were small. I also gave him water, but it wasn't pure."

The pup came out from behind Sandwich's leg. "My name is Silksharp," the pup squeaked.

"Ripred's pup?" Mareth asked.

"Yeah, that's Ripred's pups name, the one who died in the flood, that must be him, but he came back," Gregor said.

"Ripred, that be your father's name?" Mareth asked the pup.

"Yeah..." Silksharp muttered.

Mareth shook his head. Ripred had gone off looking for his pup, but if he had stayed with the group he would have been able to find him. Where was Ripred? Was he okay? Gregor hoped that the other rats hadn't gotten to him.

"Find your father we will after we rest. Come with us, back to the camp," Mareth instructed.

Silksharp latched onto the hand of which ever person was closest, which was Gregor's. Gregor looked down at the pup, and it looked back at him, its big eyes reaching into his heart just like the Bane had. But this pup was a bit older than the Bane, you could have a subtle conversation with it.

Sandwich shuffled behind the group, muttering to himself. Mareth walked into the tunnel where the bats sat. Ares shifted his head up to the sound of Sandwich falling on his face in the ash. Howard helped Sandwich onto his feet and helped him sit against the wall and let him have a long drink from a water sack.

"Who is this?" Ares asked Gregor, motioning the Sandwich and Silksharp.

"This is Silksharp, Ripred's pup. And that is Sandwich," Gregor replied.

"Sandwich? I didn't think he could come back," Ares said.

"Well he must be important. Maybe another prophecy is waiting," Gregor said.

"What are we to do now, Mareth?" Howard asked.

"We eat and rest, when we awake we will find Ripred," Mareth replied.

Gregor helped make sandwiches for the group. He still wasn't used to Henry and he wouldn't go near him to give him the sandwich, so he had Boots do it. Boots walked over to Henry and held out the sandwich, Henry looked up and laughed.

"Are you too much of a coward to come near me, Gregor?" Henry boasted.

"No, just thought she wanted to feed the groups pet," Gregor shot back.

"Well hand me the food," Henry grumbled.

"What do you say?" Boots asked as she raised the sandwich in the air.

"Give it now or when I get out of my restraints I will kill you. How's that?" Henry laughed.

Gregor took his sword out of its sheath and pointed it towards Henry. His Rager sensations were starting up, his muscle tensed and he wished so bad that Boots wasn't there so he could cut Henry's head off.

"You haven't the guts," Henry chuckled.

"Oh, don't I?" Gregor said as he pressed the blade tip on Henry's Adams apple.

Henry swallowed and raised his eyebrows. "Try it. How will it feel to kill a man of royalty?" he asked.

"It wouldn't feel any different than killing a gnawer," Gregor growled.

"Oh, haha, when you are so close to the betrayer, and what about that pup you found, could you kill them? Why don't you, then I will be afraid," Henry scowled.

Gregor swallowed hard, "Not in front of the kids."

"Oh, so you would kill them?" Henry said.

"No, their life is worth something, unlike yours," Gregor hissed.

"Gregor, calm down. Henry, silence yourself," Mareth ordered in a stern voice.

Gregor sheathed his sword and walked over to Ares. "What a jerk," Gregor said.

"I know, we should just rid of him now," Ares replied.

Gregor nodded. But Henry was vital at the moment; if the group got into trouble they could easily use him as bait or a decoy. Gregor decided to try to leave him alone for the rest of the trip, or at least until they found Ripred, then the old rat could take care of Henry.

After Gregor finished his sandwich he curled up next to Ares, Temp, and Boots. Sandwich had to be watched over so he wouldn't find his way out of the tunnel. Sometimes he wasn't very lucid. Gregor fell asleep in his big, comfortable heap. He didn't have a single dream that time, not a bad one, nor a good one.

When he woke he heard voices coming from the far end of the tunnel. Everyone had fallen asleep, seemed as if the watching over Sandwich plan hadn't worked very well. Gregor got up, making sure he was quiet, he didn't want to wake anyone or interrupt the people who were talking. Gregor crept over to the end of the tunnel. Someone had a torch in their hand and a sword in the other. In front of them was a large gnawer.

Gregor reached for his sword, but it was gone. He kept to the wall. He saw the rats eyes dart towards him. He forgot how well they could see in the dark, the person holding the torch obviously couldn't see without it. Gregor was a good four feet from the person with the sword. His jaw dropped, what he saw was unbelievable. Why wasn't he attacking?

What he saw was Henry with a jewel studded sword, poking into Ripred's throat.


End file.
